Fullmetal Alchemist: The Gate of Shambala
by Winkle
Summary: Followup to the movie, Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala. Contains some spoilers, check first chapter for introduction, more information and details.
1. Introduction

**FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST: THE GATE OF SHAMBALA**

Written by Lewis (Winkle)

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** News Updated Feb 6/06 (Final) - Scroll Below to Read

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**Introduction**

This is the introduction page. It will provide you with some basic background information necessary for reading this piece of fiction. It is highly recommended that you read through this page before you proceed. The next chapter is the first chapter of the fiction. A more detailed summary can be found below. I would like to thank everyone who reads this, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy it.

i) This fiction takes place AFTER the movie, Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala. As such, there will be some spoilers in this fiction about the events of the movie but those will be kept to a minimium. Although it would still be more enjoyable if you've at least seen the movie, or have read a summary of the movie because you do need to know what happens to really understand what is going on in this fiction.

ii) The events of his fiction takes place 4 years after the events of Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shambala.

iii) As mentioned, this fiction is a follow up of the Fullmetal Alchemist movie. While the movie was pretty good, I was terribly disappointed with the ending and the way Studio Bones treated a few of the characters, mainly my beloved Winry. They also broke a promise saying they would throw more Roy and Riza relationship material in the film (which never really happened). So really, I'm writing this to satisfy myself and hopefully any disappointed fans out there... and give myself some closure.

iv) I do believe that the above point pretty much hinted that this fiction will contain some Ed and Winry relationship material, plus Roy and Riza's relationship as well (although not as much).

v) Oh yea... I'll sprinkle in some references from the Fullmetal Alchemist manga here and there. It's not important that you know them or have read the manga but it could be more enjoyable but not necessary at all to understand the plot.

vi) Kestrel Faeran has taken the effort to translate this fic into French. So many thanks to her for her hard work! If any French readers here would like to check out the fruits of her labour, you can find it in her profile, or also by setting the language filter for French. Please keep in mind though that it takes a lot of time and effort, so she hasn't caught up yet on translating all the chapters from here, but it's still awesome nonetheless.

vii) I welcome feedback! Please, if you read this, write a review. If you see an error or something to pick at, knock yourself out. I want to make this a great piece of fiction, and I can only do it with everyone's help.

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**Updates**

**- Feb 6/06 -**

Okay, so I lied. I said there was one more chapter left right? Well I wrote Chapter 15, then realized that I wasn't happy with the ending. So I decided to add more... but then it was too long so I made an extra chapter. But I didn't want to leave you guys hanging, so I wrote both at the sametime and decided to post both at the sametime. It's all there!

Well, I guess this is it. It's over, the end, finito! It has been a lot of fun, a lot of work, a lot of torture and so forth. I also wanted to take the opportunity to thank each and everyone of you who read this fic, especially to those who have posted reviews, critisms, and pointed out errors and mistakes. You folks have been wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better audience. I hope you all get the satisfaction and closure the movie so sorely lacked, and enjoyed this fic as much as I did writing it. Thank you!

Right now I have no future plans, other then to take a break. Mid-term season is just starting for me so I will be bogged down with school work from now till May... yikes. I have no other ideas for future fic projects and so forth though.

Once again, thank you. And I guess this is farewell for now. As Ed is so fond of saying... later!

**- Jan 30/06 - **

Yikes! So Chapter 14 turned out to be pretty gigantic, compared to the other chapters. Despite my best efforts, I couldn't trim or cut it down to a size that I'm more comfortable with but oh well. Hopefully you all won't mind the length, and if you do, my apologies. And well, there's only one more chapter left! That's right, there's just the finale. I'll try not to take too long to write it. I can't believe we're almost at the end though, it's been one hell of a ride but I'm not quite done yet so hang onto your hats!

**- Jan 23/06 - **

Well, my fic is one month old! Woo! Thank you to all you readers out there. To celebrate I have posted Chapter 12. But you know what this also means? There's only _THREE_ chapters left until the end! Time really flew by eh? Enjoy it, because we're coming down the home stretch!

** - Jan 14/06 -**

Thanks to Shir0-ChaN for asking a very good question. No, I did not make up that part about red water is turned into red stones. I got it from: _Wikipedia (do a search on "Philosopher's Stone (Full Metal Alchemist). _However I don't remember them stating that in the anime, and my memory of the manga is a bit more sketchy but that is where it most likely came from. Either way, I don't claim credit for it.

**- Jan 12/06 -**

Props to La p'tite Lili for making a great nitpick on Chapter 9, I didn't see that one at all, it completely slipped my mind! I will fix that very soon, many thanks for pointing that out!

**- Jan 11/06 -**

Forgot to mention earlier but with Chapter 8, we have officially passed the halfway mark for this fic. Wooo! Also, I'm pretty sure that my chapters are going to get progressively longer and larger as I'm finding I have more and more stuff I want to write. So sorry if you guys don't like the length, I really am trying hard to keep it down but there's just a lot of stuff happening now that I can't cut out. So yea... oh and Chapter 9 is up. **  
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** - Jan 2/06 -**

A belated Happy New Year to all you folks out there. Just a couple of things to cover in this news update.

1. Chapter 6 is up, and it's quite a bit longer then usual (compared to the other chapters). I had drafted two versions, one that is much shorter and the longer one. The shorter one though, I didn't like because I felt I didn't write a very critical part of it very well so I rewrote that part and it turned out much longer then I had wanted. But I felt it's important enough that the extra length is worth it, and I hope you all think so too. So forgive me if you find it a bit long.

2. Ahhh! School's back! Nooo! Classes start for me tomorrow, sigh. So what does that mean? Well my updates will be more sporadic now since I won't have nearly as much free time as I did during the holiday break (I had kept a consistant 1 chapter every 2 days thing going). So again, please forgive me if one chapter pops up in 3 days but then nothing happens for a week. I'll try my best to keep updating on a regular basis.

3. Again I can't thank you all enough for your comments in the reviews, they're a great motivation and helps keep me going. The feedback has been wonderful, I aways worry that I got some little thing wrong or forget something in one of my chapters since I'm such a terrible nitpicker. So thanks! I will see this thing through to the end, this is my baby :D

Well I guess that covers about everything. Enjoy Chapter 6, and I'll see you next update.

**- Dec 27/05 - **

Hey all, thanks for all the feedback and comments, they're very encouraging and are much appreciated. Just two small notes I wanted to make. First, someone told me that Den is a female? I don't ever recall Den's gender being specified in either the manga nor anime. If someone can clarify that for me (give me a source too if you wouldn't mind) that would be cool. Someone also mentioned that in the movie, the gate was destroyed. However the subtitles that I got (and I know there are multiple translations out there) said the gate was closed when Ed, Al and Roy destroyed the alchemy circles on both sides. Frankly, that makes more sense... I don't see how Ed and Al suddenly gained the ability and knowledge to destroy the gate. So I will stick with what I have. The official DVD with official translated subs won't be out till Jan 25, but it'll probably be too late by then. Oh well. BTW, Chapter 3 has been uploaded, enjoy. Peace out.

**- Dec 23/05 -**

School's out for the rest of the year wooo! I will admit, I just recently fell in love with Fullmetal Alchemist and everything, so I am a relatively "newbie" fan. Anyway I've already explained why I'm writing this so yea. By the way, I'm going to try to keep this fiction a bit shorter then I would like it... since my last fiction (a Star Trek piece) turned out to be a massive epic that I STILL haven't completed to this day (I started like 2 years ago folks!)... I'll try not to let it happen here. But no promises. Hope you all enjoy it.

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**Summary**

Four years have passed since the Elrics made the faithful decision to remain in The Other World. But their mission of retrieving the stolen atomic bomb only brought the wrath of the Thule Society down on them. In a desperate bid to escape, they took up an offer from a British professor to send the Elrics home and back to safety. But the journey only threw them into harm's way. Instead of returning home, they were thrown into the 1940's during the height of the Second World War. Now Edward and Alphonse Elric must keep one step ahead of the Nazis who are seeking revenge, Edward's automail technology and something more.

Winry Rockbell resides alone now in Resembool with her dog Den, having long accepted the Elric's decision and no longer worries about them. But her peaceful life, and the safety of her entire world that the Elrics had sacrificed so much to ensure would be shattered when a mysterious stranger shows up. The world of the alchemists will never be the same.

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** Disclaimer**

I don't own any of the characters, worlds, materials or anything from the Fullmetal Alchemist universe. Except for any original characters created for this fiction.


	2. Chapter 1: The Great Global Conflict

**CHAPTER 1: THE GREAT GLOBAL CONFLICT  
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Edward Elric stood on looking at the picturesque grassy field before him. The sun was out, with only a few fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. A gentle breeze rustled the very green grass beneath both his feet, tickling them. His blonde hair waved in front of his eyes as a result of the moving air, but the scene was so delightful that it didn't bother him. There really wasn't much more for Edward to do but smile.

A noise from the distance snapped him back to attention. A few dozen yards away, he could see Den running full speed at him carrying a small tree branch in his mouth. He grinned some more at the realization that either Den was very fast despite the dog's old age or he couldn't throw things as far without his automail arm.

The hound ran up to the alchemist as Edward retrieved the stick from Den's mouth. The dog nudged at him playfully while Edward patted him, the mutt was obviously telling him to throw the stick again.

"Easy Den, you're going to wear my arm out if you keep this up." But old Den didn't seem to care. Edward grinned and took a step back to wind up his arm for another toss. Before he could send the wooden stick soaring through the air again, a familiar voice interrupted him from behind.

"Ed! Stop fooling around! Lunch is ready… we're having spaghetti!" Someone shouted, Ed paused and frowned slightly. _Always with the spaghetti... wish we could try something new._ Ed kept the thought to himself as he turned to the direction of the voice. But any frustration he may have experience quickly melted away as his eyes focused on a beautiful girl waving at him with a huge smile from the distance. Her incredible smile was infectious as another grin broke out across Ed's face.

"Okay." Ed acknowledged as he gestured for Den to follow him and he started walking back towards the residence. "We're coming Winry."

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**Somewhere in Northern France – July, 1943**

Alphonse Elric sat quietly in the dark. It was hard to see the rest of the room, but the small glitter of moonlight filtering through the small slits in between the wooden planks managed to provide enough illumination for him to make out the half a dozen people slumbering on the dirt floor. They were all snoring somewhat heavily, and the rumbling just made Al a little drowsier then usual but a mumbling off to the side caught his attention. He moved himself closer to the source until the faint voice became more distinct and he could make out what was being said.

"Winry… Winry…" Al sighed to himself when he saw the silhouette of his brother sleeping away in the corner. _Oh brother, he's dreaming about her… again._ Al tucked the small blanket covering his brother in a little tighter as it had started to slip off before he moved back to his lookout position.

Al stared back out of the tiny hole in between the wooden planks. He could make out some farmland outside surrounded by a forest. Even though it was summer, the night air was cool and Al tightened his own blanket to keep the chill out. He looked at the landscape in front of him, saw no one and sat back down in a more comfortable position.

In all honestly, Al wasn't even sure where they were. Somewhere in northern France was what one of the other people told them. Far too much has happened in the last couple of years. The Elrics had spent the first three years in this world tracking the atom bomb that was stolen from their world when the Thule Society invaded. They were successful; they stole the bomb back and hid it in a location where hopefully it will never be found again.

The problem was; they brought even more attention to themselves as a result. They fled Germany and returned to England to escape the Thule, but it wasn't enough. Finally, Ed and Al made contact with a British professor who was studying their world since the Thule invasion. He offered to attempt to open a new gate so the brothers could return to their home. Since the Thule was hot on their heels, they decided to give it a try. As the old saying goes, they were tossed from the frying pan and into the fire.

Instead of returning to their world, they instead wound up back in Germany… except that it was 1942 and they were caught in the middle of the Second World War. The Elrics had developed quite a reputation among the Thule, many of whom are now ranking members of the Nazi regime. And so, the Nazis were back on the Elric's heels in no time, wanting revenge for what they did 20 years earlier and getting their hands on Ed's automail. Automail didn't exist in this world, even though it was so common in theirs. It's considered a piece of highly advanced bio-technology and the Nazis would love to obtain it. And thus, the Elrics had spent the last year on the run, fleeing and hiding from their pursuers hoping to find a way off continental Europe. Right now, they're resting at a safe house that they had luckily run across along with a few other refugees escaping Nazi persecution.

Al sighed again. He didn't like thinking about their situation, and even though his brother had kept their spirits up, the older Elric was beginning to wear out. Al shook his head, he would slap himself but his face was already red and sore from doing that all night long to keep himself awake. He took a glance at Ed's State Alchemist watch and noticed that it was nearing four in the morning and nearing the end of his shift. _Thank goodness, I can catch a few hours of sleep soon._ Al's relief however, was interrupted by the growling of machines in the distance. He immediately snapped back up to peer out the small view hole. He couldn't see anything beyond what he saw before. He waited another minute and noticed a number of headlights approaching. _Oh crap! _ He didn't need to see anymore, his instincts already told him what was coming.

Al quickly turned and went to his brother who was by now, mumbling something about spaghetti and how awful it tasted. _Why doesn't he ever dream about her cooking something else?_ Al allowed himself a chuckle before he started to shake his brother awake.

"Win… wah what?" Ed muttered sheepishly as he started to come back to reality.

"Brother, I think we're in trouble." Al whispered and pointed to the view hole. Ed crawled over to the small hole and peered outside. It was difficult to see, but he was able to make out several trucks offloading a number of soldiers and even an armoured carrier armed with a machine gun nearby. _Damn, how did they get caught up so fast?_ But this wasn't the time to panic. Al had already started waking up the others as Ed jogged his brain to come up with a plan.

"How is it?" He heard Al whisper from the other side of the room.

"Not good, not good at all. I count 20… maybe 30 of them. And they've got an armoured carrier with them." Ed reported, and turned back in time to watch a squad of soldiers approach the house.

"We have to get out! We have to make a run for it!" One of the others suggested, fear clearly in his voice.

"We'll never make it." Ed quickly shot the idea down. The sound of army boots tromping on the wooden floor of the house could be heard, pounding on the basement roof. The house was abandoned long ago, and a hidden cellar was often used by refugees or freedom fighters as a temporary haven. "Everyone just be quiet, hopefully they'll just pass over and move on." Ed said, motioning for everyone to be silent. Ed and Al exchanged looks, knowing that there wasn't much more they can do but wait.

Several minutes passed by, as the group intensely followed the footsteps that rang from upstairs. Ed took another peek outside, and noticed that the soldiers had surrounded the building. The footsteps from upstairs suddenly stopped, and someone speaking German could be heard very clearly.

"The house is secured. It's completely empty; I don't think they're here sir." Although Ed and Al's German weren't great, they could just make out what was being said.

"Very well, deploy the other two squads to search the surrounding area. We received reports that the Elrics were seen passing through here not long ago. See if we can dig up any leads." Another voice replied, most likely belonging to the commanding officer. _Good, if we wait patiently they won't find us._ Ed thought to himself. He looked at Al again, who was probably thinking the same thing.

"Just keep an eye out, they could be anywhere. Remember, we want them both alive if possible, especially the older, short one." Al's eyes flared up at hearing those words. _Oh crap! Brother!_ He thought as he quickly rushed towards the older Elric but he was too slow. Edward Elric's face went from normal to blood red in the blink of an eye.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING SHORT YOU STUPID IDIOTS!" Ed screamed at the top of his lungs while flailing his arms wildly in the air. Before he could continue his angry tirade Al had reached him and tackled his brother to the ground and cupped his hand over his mouth.

"Quiet!" Al ordered, glaring at his brother. Edward however was still throwing a fit and pushed his sibling off of him.

"They called me short! Short! What the hell is that! I'm taller then you!" Edward yelled again.

"Damnit brother! This isn't the place or time!" Al replied, exasperated.

"BUT THEY CALLED ME SHORT!" Ed was totally losing it, again waving his arms in shear anger.

"GROW UP BROTHER." Al replied, showing some cracks in his usual calm demeanour.

"Grow up? Are you saying I'm small Al?"

"Ahem." Both Elrics suddenly snapped towards the source of the cough, and noticed a German Wehrmacht officer standing by the door with a rather confused look on his face. Ed and Al then looked around and noticed that about ten German soldiers had somehow made their way into the room, surrounded the brothers and their fellow refugees with their Mauser rifles trained on all of them.

"Since when did you guys get so good at sneaking up on people?" Was all Ed could muster, along with a bemused look. Al just slapped his forehead in frustration.

"By the orders of the Fuhrer, Edward and Alphonse Elric, you are hereby placed under arrest by the Third Reich. Surrender yourselves or we will shoot." The officer recited monotonously. Al gave Ed a _stupid brother_ look as Ed frowned in response. But both knew that they had no other choice and raised their hands up in defeat. Ed had to grit his teeth in annoyance but allowed himself to mutter a curse.

"Damn…"

_To Be Continued…_


	3. Chapter 2: The Empty Home

**CHAPTER 2: THE EMPTY HOME

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**Resembool – May, 1927**

"Well, I see the problem here. It's actually quite minor." Winry Rockbell carefully inspected the automail hand lying on the table before her. The mechanical hand was attached to the arm of a middle-aged woman, probably in her thirties who looked very relieved.

"Thank goodness. My mechanic told me one of the parts had broken down and he would have to charge me a hefty price for the repairs." The woman said. Winry looked back up to face her and gave her a broad smile.

"It's not broken; some of the components in the part are a bit loose and worn but it's not something I can't fix with a screw-driver and some oil." Winry replied cheerfully. She brushed some of her hair aside, picked up one of the many tools laid out on the table and started to work while the woman watched in amazement.

"I'm glad I decided to come all the way here. They weren't wrong when they said you're the best automail mechanic in all of Amestris." Winry let out a cute giggle and blushed.

"Haha, all this praise is going to get to my head one of these days." Winry finished tightening a screw, and squeezed some oil onto the component and sat back up to take a breath. "Try it out, see how it feels now." The woman raised her hand, and started flexing and moving it around. Her expression told Winry that she had done a good job.

"Wow! That's a big difference. It feels wonderful; it's so much more responsive then before." Both women shared smiles again. The two exchanged a few more words before the woman paid the mechanic and politely bid farewell and left the Rockbell residence. Winry watched her latest customer depart and let out a sigh. The house was empty again.

"I suppose I should clean this up." She said to herself, looking at the pile of tools sewn haphazardly across the table. As if reading her mind, Den walked in from the other room and gave her a nudge with his noise. Winry smiled down at him.

"I know I know, soon as I get this cleaned up we'll have lunch." Winry set to work, and caught sight of the board in the corner of the room. Pinned across it were a number of photos of Edward and Alphonse Elric and the various people they've met in their travels, plus some childhood photos of the three. She glazed at it sadly for a moment before returning to focus on her task. _They're gone. It's just me and Den now that granny passed away._ Winry brushed the thought aside. _I better hurry up before Den starts biting my arm off._ She didn't worry about the Elrics anymore, but it certainly wasn't easy. In fact it was very hard on her, but after all these years she's convinced that she's accepted their decision and had moved on. _I won't wait for you anymore Ed.

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"This is such a lovely and peaceful village." The man said to himself as he walked along the dirt path towards the house in the distance. His brown fedora hat shielded his eyes from the bright rays beaming from the sun, and his matching brown trench-coat kept the spring winds out. He eyed the building he was heading towards more sharply as he got closer. _I do believe that is the place, it looks like I'm finally here._

"So my cooking has gotten better huh?" Winry smiled cheerfully at Den who barked happily in response. She polished off the last scrap of food on her plate before putting it in the sink. Now what was she going to do? There weren't any customers right now and she didn't feel like going back to her research just yet. She looked at the board of photos one more time. _Maybe… I should put that away now. _She walked towards the photos slowly and grinned a bit at the memories they brought up. A breeze coming in from the open front door played with her hair. _Not yet… no… not yet._

"Ahem… excuse me?" Winry jolted towards the source of the voice, and turned to face the open door. Standing in the frame was a fairly tall man wearing a brown hat that she didn't recognize, and donning a large brown coat. The man took off his hat, revealing his black hair and red eyes. He looked back at the woman standing on the other side of the room, clad in a white dress shirt with a black skirt that went down to almost her ankles. He looked a bit startled at her appearance.

"Um… yes can I help you?" Winry replied gently. The man stared at her face with his mouth half open for a second before snapping out of his trance.

"Oh, pardon me." He said, bowing politely. "I'm looking for Winry Rockbell." She noticed that he was blushing a little.

"That would be me." She smiled at him.

"I'm sorry to bother you Ms. Rockbell…" He started, but she cut him off almost immediately.

"Please, call me Winry." She said, and the man relaxed a little. "And you are?"

"Ah… my apologies, how terribly rude of me. My name is Gabriel Mackenzie. I'm an investor from Central."

"Oh, from Central? She looked a tad surprised; she's never had an investor visit her before. She looked at him quietly and motioned him to take a seat at the table. "Um… please sit Mr. Mackenzie."

"You can just call me Gabriel, or Gabe whichever you prefer." He corrected her as he sat down. Winry brought over a pot of tea and some cups from the kitchen counter.

"Tea?" He nodded, and she poured each of them a cup. "What can I do for you Gabriel?"

"Ah well you see, I've been seeking some investment opportunities in the last few months and I'm actually interested in investing in your automail business." He replied, really catching her off guard.

"Automail… business?"

"You're quite well-known in the industry Winry, very well known in fact." Gabriel started his pitch. "I figured; we can open an automail shop in Central. A large one, with your talents and expertise and my money and management skills it could be a highly profitable venture." Gabriel sounded quite excited, so much so that Winry thought she saw sparkles in his eyes. "The money we could make... and we can open up multiple franchises all over the country… Rockbell Automail will be a household name!"

"Um…" Winry stared at Gabriel somewhat dumbfounded and he realized that maybe he went a bit overboard with his presentation. She looked down to Den sitting on the floor beside her and then back at her feet. "I'm flattered… but I don't think I can go to Central and leave Resembool… this is my home." She said, almost in a whisper. _Have I really let them go?_ Gabriel looked at Winry who kept her head down, and then caught something out of the corner of his eye.

"You have a lot of nice pictures there." Winry brought her head back up and followed Gabriel's gaze to the picture board. "Friends of yours?" He asked, indicating the ones with the Elrics. Winry remained silent as a sombre veil fell across her face.

"Yes… they were. They're gone now." Gabriel turned back and saw her sad eyes which where still fixed on the pictures. "They're gone forever." _If only she knew…_ Gabriel thought to himself as the room fell into silence.

"I'm… sorry if I upset you." Gabriel started, breaking the quiet. He pushed his chair back and stood up, which regained Winry's attention.

"Oh… no, it's okay." She said, sounding marginally more upbeat now.

"Anyway, I understand you not wanting to leave Resembool." Gabriel gathered his fedora and plopped it back on his head. "It is a very beautiful place." He started towards the door and Winry stood up to follow him. "I'm sorry to have taken your time Ms. Rockbell." She was startled by his sudden return to formality.

"It was no trouble at all." Gabriel opened the door and took a step out, adjusting his hat to shield his eyes from the sunlight once more. He turned back to her and gave her a polite bow.

"Thank you for the tea Ms. Rockbell." Before she could reply, the man had already turned and started down the steps to the dirt path. She watched him as he walked, rather hurriedly down the road towards the village. She couldn't shake the feeling though that something was odd about him. _Who… is he? _She continued watching him walk away but he never once turned back. _Who?_ Den's cold and wet nose nudging at her hand snapped her out of her train of thought. She looked down at her faithful friend, gave him a reassuring smile that she was alright and returned back inside her home.

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_Damn, damn, damn!_ Gabriel angrily cursed himself as he continued his brisk hike towards the Resembool train station. _That was smooth Gabe, real smooth. What the hell was that?_ He was frustrated that all his preparation had neatly been washed down the drain, but most of all he was furious at how he handled himself. _She looked just like her… her hair, eyes, even her smile. Damnit! _Gabriel stopped briefly and allowed himself to catch a breath. _How could I let my sentimentality get the better of me like that?_ Then he slapped his forehead, frowned and sighed as he tried to calm down. 

"Nothing I can do now. At least I know she's here, I better get back; I've got work to do." He resumed his journey to the train station. As he walked through the core of Resembool he noticed all the people lingering around the village proper. _It truly is a peaceful place. I wish… we could've been here instead. _Gabriel quickly stopped himself; that wasn't a place he wanted to go down again. He caught sight of the station and was relieved that the train to Central had not yet departed. As he accelerated his pace, his sharp eyes caught hold of something that didn't belong there.

"Huh?" He didn't dare turn his head towards the target of his suspicion, nor did he have to for years of training had honed his observational skills. _Those guys…_ he saw several figures in the small bustling crowd who looked normal enough but his instincts told him otherwise. _They've gone to a lot of trouble to blend in._ He noticed that no one was paying them any heed. Suddenly he froze in his tracks. _Wait… no it can't be!_ His eyes widened as the realization dawned on him.

"They're here already?"

_To Be Continued…_


	4. Chapter 3: Rescue Operation

**CHAPTER 3: RESCUE OPERATION

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**German Army Base – July, 1943**

Alphonse Elric sat alone in the small cell. Above him dangled a single light-bulb that barely provided enough illumination to see the rest of the room. Not that there was much to see, the room was perhaps no more then ten by ten feet and walled in by grey concrete bricks. Besides the heavy steel door which had a grating to allow ventilation, there was nothing else.

Al just sat there, with his head tucked in between his knees. His clothes were worn, ragged, and soiled black and brown. Fresh bruises, cuts and scrapes where evident all over his face and body but he refused to acknowledge the pain. He felt utterly exhausted and fought hard to keep his eyes from closing and letting his mind slip into unconsciousness. But no matter how much he strained himself, he felt his eye-lids getting heavier.

"Huh?" He was startled awake by the squealing of the rusty hinges announcing the opening of the cell door. Before he could stand up, Edward Elric came flying into the room, landing hard on his front side. The bright light in the corridor beyond the room blinded Al and he could only make out a silhouette of the person standing in the door frame.

"We'll continue this tomorrow." The voice was deep and brooding and the figure moved off as the door was shut.

"Brother!" Al turned towards Ed who was coughing in agony. Ed's clothes weren't any better than Al's, which where either covered in dirt or soaked in blood. Al hurried to his brother's side and helped him sit up on the hard, cold floor. "Are you alright?" Al asked with worry.

"I'm alive." Ed coughed out as he wiped some blood from the edges of his mouth. "They really worked me hard that time." Al let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you're okay brother." Al sat down besides Ed. "You were gone for an awful long time."

"Yea." Ed started to inspect the wounds on his battered body and Al noticed that his brother had obtained some fresh ones. "How long do you think it's been Al?" Ed asked weakly, referring to how long it has been since they were captured.

"I don't know, days? Weeks?" Al muttered in reply. "I haven't seen a window in awhile. I've completely lost track of the time." Then the younger Elric looked up towards the older one. "Brother?" Ed turned to face him. "Do you think we'll ever get out of here?" Ed looked back at the door and grinned defiantly.

"Yea Al, we will."

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"What do you have for me Lieutenant?" A group of sixteen men were huddled in the bushes whose shadows hid them in the darkness of the night. The men were all dressed in dark green camouflaged fatigues, matching berets except for one who wore red and all were clad in black boots. Most of them had knap-sacks strapped onto their backs and they were all carrying a variety of firearms.

"Doesn't look so good Colonel." One of them replied in a whisper to the one sporting the red beret. He used a stick he found in the bushes and drew a rough square in the dirt ground and marked a pair of X's on two adjoining sides. "I counted at least twenty Jerries on the north and west sides, and less on the other. They also got guard towers and patrols along the parameter."

"What about the fence?" The Colonel asked.

"Single layer chain-link with barbed wire on top. We can cut through them if we need to. Problem is; we got bout two hundred, maybe two-fifty yards of clearance to the fences from all sides." A few seconds ticked by as the Colonel considered his options.

"Stealth entry?" The one answering the questions shook his head.

"Don't see how we bloody can. They got search lights doing sweeps, that and the patrols are too tight to get in between them." The Colonel let out a grunt.

"Looks like we're going to have to do this the hard way." A few of the men grinned at the prospect. "Major?" A man in the group moved forward. "I'll take Stanley, Lloyd and Bannerman. You'll be knocking on the door from the west." He said, pointing to one side of the square drawn in the dirt.

"Diversion?" The major asked.

"Yes. Take the rest of the squad, get and hold the Jerry's attention. We'll be sneaking in from the east to secure the objective. See if you can find us some transportation too." He turned to look at two of the soldiers. "George and Heath, you'll be covering our entry. Soon as we're in, reposition to support the Major and his assault." They nodded. "I just hope the floor plans those Yanks gave us are accurate." He looked at his wrist-watch. "We commence the operation in 10 minutes. Major, don't forget the signal."

"Don't you worry about that Colonel, I'll be lighting some real pretty fireworks tonight." The Major said smiling as the Colonel waved at the rest of his troops.

"Let's move out!"

* * *

"How many times did they take your automail off?" Al asked softly. The Elrics were laying flat-out on the floor. The cold ground was almost therapeutic in that it numbed their senses and dulled some of the pain they were in.

"I lost count after ten." Ed said, grimacing at the thought. The Nazi researchers had been disconnecting and reconnecting his automail limbs numerous times in an effort to try to understand how it works. "If I didn't know better, I'll say they were enjoying it."

"They keep asking me where we hid the bomb." Al chuckled. "I can't believe I haven't spilled the beans yet."

"They stopped asking me awhile ago." Ed said. "They're probably more interested in my automail now."

"What did you tell them?" Al queried.

"Nothing. What could I tell them?" Ed sounded irritated because he thought it was a stupid question. "I don't even know the how the damned thing works. Stupid idiots won't believe me though; they think I'm the one who made it."

"You didn't tell them about Winry did you?" That seemed to have struck a nerve with Ed but he was too tired to be annoyed.

"I'm not dumb Al." Ed paused to yawn sheepishly. "It doesn't matter anyway, it's not like they can do anything to her."

"Do you miss her brother?" Al asked but Ed didn't answer. After a minute of silence Al continued, "You were dreaming about her again the night we got caught." Ed frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ed said plainly.

"Her spaghetti was always terrible. I wonder if she's learned to cook it properly by now." Al poked a little further but Ed would have none of it.

"Al…"

"I know brother." Al stopped, and shut his eyes. "This is our world now." Both brothers remained silent and Ed continued staring at the faintly-lit light, almost mesmerized by it until he heard his brother snoozing. Ed looked at the light once more before closing his own eyes so he could get some rest.

"I never said goodbye to her."

* * *

"That's our signal!" The Colonel said to himself. Off in the distance on the other side of the base was a bright fireball rising into the cool night sky. Sirens and alarms immediately cried out and further shattered the quiet. The Colonel and his team had managed to painstakingly crawl on their bellies to just within a hundred yards of the fence but they dared venture no further till now.

"Move move move!" He yelled, as he stood up and charged the fence with his three team-mates behind him. He saw that the guards in the watch tower were pointing at them but they quickly fell to the two snipers covering their approach. The team reached the fence, and the Colonel, Bannerman and Stanley raised their silenced Sten sub-machineguns to cover Lloyd who produced a pair of wire-cutters from his pocket and begin creating a new entrance in the fence.

"The Major wasn't kidding about those fireworks!" Stanley said as another explosion rocked the ground.

"I probably shouldn't have given him so many grenades." The Colonel bemused.

"Done!" Lloyd backed off as the Colonel kicked in the piece of fence that was cut to open the hole. He crawled through first as the others covered him and they entered the base one by one. They scanned the area and saw that all the guards had gone to repel the Major's attack.

"Over there! Go!" The Colonel waved to one of the grey concrete and windowless buildings marked by a number 13 and the group moved hurriedly but carefully to it. They reached the door which was lit by an overhead lamp, and checked that it wasn't locked. They took positions besides the door with their backs to the wall and opened it and were promptly greeted by a hail of bullets. The Colonel retrieved his head in time to save it, and waved at Stanley who nodded and pulled out a fragmentation grenade from his belt.

"Fire in the hole!" Stanley yelled and chucked the bulbous object in the door, two seconds later an explosion shook everything around them. The Colonel carefully peered inside and saw the corpses of the guards messily sewn about the hallway. The group moved in, jogged down the corridor, all the while keeping their silenced Stens up and ready. They weaved through the building, disposing the few guards that had remained and finally entered a long hallway that had a string of cells on both sides marked by heavy steel doors.

"Lloyd, Bannerman, secure the other end. Stanley, help me check the cells." The Colonel ordered and the two begin opening each door. Halfway down the Colonel found a cell occupied by two young males sitting on the floor; they had blonde hair and very wide-opened golden eyes and both look like they've been put through some serious abuse.

"Edward and Alphonse Elric?" The two looked startled to hear their names.

"Yes… that's us, who're you?" One of them stammered. The Colonel motioned for Stanley to help them up.

"British Special Air Service, we're here to get…" He started but was cut off.

"Colonel!" Stanley waved his Sten towards the unguarded end of the hall and at two German troops aiming their MP40 sub-machineguns at them. But because Stanley was carrying Edward and had only one free arm he couldn't fire his gun.

"Damn!" The Colonel gritted his teeth, and instinctively shoved Al, Ed and Stanley by accident down to the floor. He dropped to his knees and ducked in time to avoid the first wave of bullets fired at him. As he did so he swung his right arm out, unleashing two small silver knives that darted across the air and struck the two Germans between their eyes. The threats both slumped to the floor dead. The Colonel turned towards the other direction and noticed Bannerman and Lloyd running towards him.

"Bannerman! Radio the Major; we're getting out of here." He barked. The soldier nodded, pulled a very large radio out of his bag and spoke into it.

"Silent Fox to Noisy Bear, precious cargo secured, fall back to mother den." Lloyd helped Al to his feet, and Stanley slung his arm under Ed's shoulder to help him walk and they started retracing their steps with the Colonel and Bannerman covering them. The group emerged from the building where they had entered and headed towards the courtyard of the base, there the other team was tangled in an intense fire-fight fiercely defending a truck from a number of German soldiers. Fire and burning vehicles could be seen scattered throughout the grounds of the base. The Colonel's group ran to join their compatriots.

"Major, report!" The Colonel yelled as he ran up to the officer busily exchanging gunfire. Behind them, some of the soldiers were helping the Elrics get into the vehicle.

"Hurry, get in the lorry." One of them said as he boosted Al up into the back.

"Bloody short pipsqueak." The one helping Edward complained. Ed turned and looked at him in pure rage.

"WHO YOU CALL…" Ed started but a hard slap to the back of his head by Al caused him to snap his mouth shut.

"Brother! Not now!"

"We lost Robinson and Gladstone." The Major responded and the Colonel grimaced at the news but they had no time to mourn.

"Alright, I think it's time we left." The rest of the troops jumped onto the truck and the driver floored it, turning the bulky vehicle around and roared out of the base. Al and Ed tucked themselves into a corner in the back as the British troops poured gunfire out the back to discourage any pursuers. After a few minutes, the base disappeared out of the sight and the peacefulness of the night returned save for the rumbling of the truck's engine.

"I think we're alright sir, we blew up everything that could move besides this thing." The Major said, pointing to the floor.

"Good work, keep your eyes open though." The Colonel padded the officer on the shoulder.

"We should reach the landing field well before sunrise." The Colonel nodded and moved to the Elrics who looked like they were still in shock.

"Are you hurt?" He asked them. Both shook their heads and the Colonel relaxed a little, relieved and all. "Which one of you is the older one?" Al pointed at Ed. Edward looked at the Colonel closely; this is the first time he's had a good look at his rescuer and noticed something that definitely caught his attention. _Red eyes?_

"Who are you?" Ed demanded, sounding a little hostile.

"Brother!" Al was surprised at his rudeness. The Colonel smirked back at them.

"My apologies, we haven't had a chance for proper introductions." He said, and offered his hand to the Elrics to shake. "I'm Colonel Gabriel Mackenzie."

_To Be Continued…_


	5. Chapter 4: Within the Shadows

**CHAPTER 4: WITHIN THE SHADOWS

* * *

**

**Resembool – June, 1927**

"Yes, that's right." Winry spoke softy into the phone. "Thank you." She finished, and gently rested the handset back on its cradle to hang up. She turned to look behind her, checking to see that the small suitcase was still where she left it with Den sitting beside it. _Nothing more to do now I guess. _Winry was dressed in a white shirt with blue horizontal stripes and a pink jacket on top. She also donned a pair of tanned khaki slacks that didn't quite reach her ankles and a pair of red sneakers.

"Okay Den, let's get going or we'll be late." Winry knelt down in front of her dog and gave Den a pat on the head, Den responded by licking her hand. Winry smiled, stood back up and picked up the suitcase which was weighted down by some of her cloths and of course, a complete wrench set. She walked out the front door of her home and gave the inside one last glance before closing and locking the door behind her. The two walked down the front steps and headed towards the Resembool train station.

* * *

**Central – June, 1927**

"Well, I'll see you suckers later!" 1st Lieutenant Jean Havoc picked up his coat from the rack and waved goodbye to his compatriots, all the while wearing a happy look on his face.

"Hey, watch who you're calling suckers." 1st Lieutenant Heymans Breda remarked from his side of the desk but Havoc simply ignored him and started towards the office door.

"Where do you think you're going Lieutenant?" Havoc was stopped by the voice of Brigadier General Roy Mustang.

"I'm off duty sir." Havoc replied plainly without looking back. The office door swung open and in walked Major Riza Hawkeye.

"Major, haven't you left already?" Roy asked from behind the newspaper he's reading at his desk. _Slacking again._ Riza frowned, noticing the huge pile of unsigned papers on Roy's desk.

"I was just about to go sir; I needed to pick up some files." Riza said as she walked to her desk to retrieve several documents.

"In that case, you should take Lieutenant Havoc with you." Roy flatly suggested, and it was enough to get Havoc to turn to face his superior officer, with a very peeved-off look.

"What? I'm off duty!" Havoc exasperated. "And I have a hot date tonight!"

"I wouldn't worry about her Lieutenant. And the Major needs a driver." Roy stayed hidden behind his newspaper and Riza frowned again.

"And just what are you inferring Brigadier General." Havoc gritted his teeth, chomping on the ever-present cigarette clipped between his lips.

"Nothing at all. You two should get going; you don't want to be late." Roy said calmly, again showing no emotion in his voice. Riza sighed and waved for the fuming Lieutenant to follow and they exited the room.

"Looks like the Brigadier General's at it again." 2nd Lieutenant Vato Falman whispered. 2nd Lieutenant Kain Fuery and Breda simply nodded in agreement. Roy finally lowered the newspaper, revealing an evil grin on his face as he smoothly pulled out his notebook, flipped a couple of pages and picked up the phone on his desk. Fuery frowned with the rest of the group.

"Looks like another stolen date for the Brigadier General."

* * *

Winry stared out the train window, at the landscape and scenery zooming by as Den napped quietly in the seat beside her. Ever since Gabriel visited her a few weeks back she's felt like someone has been watching her, breathing down her neck. Call it women's intuition but whatever it was, it bugged her enough to have called Major Riza Hawkeye. After giving her a brief explanation over the phone, the Major suggested that she head over to Central where they could meet in person. Winry wasn't thrilled about leaving Resembool, nor did she understand why the Major would ask her to go to Central but it seemed the Major knew something she didn't. 

She extended her hand to pat Den as the dog slept peacefully. She had called the Major once more before leaving to let her know when she would arrive. The train begin to slow down as it approached the Central train station where Winry saw Riza waiting on the platform. The two made eye contact, smiled and waved at each other.

"Miss Riza!" Winry greeted the Major as she stepped off the train. "I didn't expect you to be here, I was going to take a cab and find you at headquarters."

"Don't be silly Winry." Riza looked down to see Den. Black Hayate appeared from behind her and the two mutts started to play with each other. Winry also enjoyed the scene. "After what I told the Brigadier General what you said, he ordered me to pick you up."

"Oh? He did?" Winry seemed a little surprise, she hadn't expected this much attention.

"So how have you been? I think it's been a few years since I've seen you." Riza started, smiling cheerfully at her. "You look prettier every time I see you."

"Haha, you look great too Miss Riza." Winry giggled lightly.

"Well we should go, Lieutenant Havoc is waiting." The two walked out of the station followed by their dogs. Havoc was waiting impatient by the car outside.

"Oh, hi Lieutenant, how are you?" Winry greeted Havoc, but he only mumbled something incoherent in response. She noticed the many burnt cigarette buds at his feet.

"Um… what's wrong with him?" Winry asked.

"Don't worry about him." Riza sighed. Havoc finally moved to relieve Winry of her suitcase; he was rather startled at how heavy it was and grunted as he tossed it in the trunk of the car. Havoc jumped in the driver's seat as the two women hopped into the back.

"I was a bit surprised when you called so suddenly." Riza said as the car started to move. "I was able to go through the records for this Gabriel person you mentioned."

"Oh, you didn't have to go to the trouble of..."

"It was no trouble at all." Riza brushed aside. "But none of our records have an investor named Gabriel Mackenzie residing in Central or in this country."

"Are you sure?" Winry's eyes were a little wider now.

"Yes. We checked the records thoroughly." Winry sank further into her seat at hearing that. That bad feeling she's been having for so long just got worst.

"Maybe he's from another country?" Winry suggested, mostly to herself.

"Perhaps, it's a very real possibility." Then Winry remembered something.

"He had red eyes."

"Red eyes?" Riza repeated, and even though the Major herself had red eyes, they were a relatively rare trait.

"Yes, but his are more crimson then yours and he had light skin, he didn't look like an Ishbalan." Riza took several seconds to digest that piece of information.

"Winry." Riza turned to face the younger girl. "Tell me what happened."

* * *

The car pulled up in front of the hotel building as the sun started to set on the horizon, giving the sky a beautiful orange glow. Winry, Riza and Den got out the back as Havoc grabbed the suitcase from the trunk. 

"Lieutenant Havoc will stay with you as your escort for now." Riza told Winry.

"Ah, you don't have to…"

"Don't start." Riza cut her off. "I just want to make sure you're safe."

"Miss Riza." Winry's voice was barely audible now. "Is there something you're not telling me?" She kept her eyes down and away from the Major. Riza was momentarily caught off guard by Winry's sharp instincts. _I've forgotten how good she is at reading people. _ Riza reached out and put her hand on Winry's shoulder.

"I have to confirm some facts with the Brigadier General first, including what you just told me." Winry raised her head back up. "I'll be back tomorrow morning, than I'll tell you what we know." Riza smiled at her to try to further reassure her.

"Okay." Winry looked a little more relieved. "Thank you." Winry bowed politely, and walked into the hotel with Den. Havoc turned to follow her but was stopped by the Major.

"Lieutenant." She whispered just loud enough for him to hear. "Stay alert and be careful. I'll send some more guards as soon as I can." He gave her a puzzled look.

"Huh? Aren't you going pretty far for someone who probably just has a stalker hounding her?" He asked. "I mean, she's pretty cute, could be somebody has a crush on her." He sounded a little too excited at the word "cute", but she gave him a very serious look.

"Maybe. But you know about the incidents in the city recently."

"Sure. I've been working the cases with the rest of you." He gave her a deadpanned look, almost as if he was insulted. "But they've only involved State Alchemists, not automail mechanics."

"That doesn't mean they couldn't be." Riza got in the car, and all Havoc could do was sigh and shrug because he didn't get it. _It's just like that time again, with Scar… but no, this is different._ Riza thought to herself. Havoc watched her drive off before following Winry into the hotel.

* * *

Gabriel Mackenzie had waited patiently at the restaurant across the street of the hotel for some time now. He had watched Winry arrive in the car, enter the hotel with Havoc and Riza depart. _I guess my sources were correct… which means I'll have to pay them. Damn. _Gabriel sighed to himself; he scanned the area around him quickly before standing up to cross the street. He paused in front of the hotel and looked up at it for a second before entering the building. 

Unbeknownst to him though, two men had been watching him and the hotel intently from the shadows the whole time. When Gabriel walked into the hotel, one of the men turned to the other.

"He's here too, this could be a problem." The other one thought for a moment before answering.

"It doesn't matter, our objective is inside now. We can take care of him if he gets in the way." The first one nodded. "Call the others; tell them to get ready… we're going in tonight."

_To Be Continued…_


	6. Chapter 5: A Crimson Secret

**CHAPTER 5: A CRIMSON SECRET

* * *

**

**British Army Bunker, Birmingham – July, 1943**

Edward and Alphonse Elric greedily and hungrily devoured every last morsel of food laid out on the table before them. Both look much cleaner, having finally been able to take a hot shower. Bandages and cloth wraps dotted their faces and limbs, covering the numerous wounds they had obtained at the hands of their captors. They also had some fresh and clean clothes, mainly British military fatigues that were a little too large for them.

Both swallowed the last crumb of food and sat back, rubbed their bellies and let out a relaxed sigh, followed by a couple of belches before noticing the several British soldiers staring at them in awe and amazement.

"Are you guys alright?" Ed asked nervously, Al didn't look too comfortable either with all those eyes fixed on them.

"Don't mind them." Both Ed and Al jumped a little and turned to see Colonel Gabriel Mackenzie walk into the room, it was well lit but devoid of almost any décor save for the table, a couple of chairs and the lights. "They're just jealous because they haven't seen that kind of grub since the war started." Gabriel stopped in front of the large table, and was also shocked at how quickly the Elric brothers had demolished their meal.

"Well, we haven't eaten that well in a long time either." Al cheerfully said, although he felt somewhat guilty at not leaving his rescuers with anything.

"I take it that you two are feeling better?" Gabriel queried.

"Yea thanks for getting us out of that hell hole." Ed responded and Al nodded in agreement.

"Good, come with me then." Gabriel turned and motioned for the two brothers to follow. "Clean those dishes up." He ordered the soldiers still at the table before leaving the room. They did not look happy.

"So Colonel, where are we?" Ed asked as him and Al followed Gabriel out of the room and down a tunnel.

"A bunker hidden below the city of Birmingham."

"Birmingham?" Al muttered.

"Yes, we're in England." Gabriel continued walking. "We had to go out of our way to shake off the Jerries, couldn't let them follow us." He said, explaining why they had detour through several destinations before arriving here. "That's why it took us a couple of days to travel that short distance."

"And where are you taking us now?" Ed used a lower tone of voice.

"Someone that wants to see you, an old acquaintance." Ed and Al wondered who he was talking about. The group continued down a few more corridors and turns before arriving at a steel door. Gabriel knocked on it

"I've brought them." A beat before a reply came from the other side.

"Come in." Gabriel opened it and waved for the brothers to walk in. Inside was a fairly large office, lined with bookshelves along the walls. A rug covered the concrete floor with a large oak desk in the middle and a fireplace behind the table gave the room a warm glow. Behind the desk was a chair, turned to face the fireplace, and on the opposite side were two more chairs. Both entered the room a bit hesitantly.

"Edward and Alphonse." Gabriel started as the chair swivelled around to reveal an elderly Englishman, probably in his 60's with grey hair and beard, and sporting a pair of glasses. "This is Doctor Arthur…"

"Baldwin." Both Elrics finished off the sentence for him.

* * *

About twenty years ago, the Elrics had successfully stolen the atomic bomb back from the Thule Society when it was accidentally transferred from Ed and Al's world to this one. Even before then, the Thule Society was already coming down hard on them. Basically, they were pissed because the Elrics had managed to foil their invasion of "Shambala", their name for the world of alchemy. 

It seemed that stealing the atomic bomb only aggravated them even more. The Thule's, who were by then quickly raising in political stature concentrated all their efforts on capturing the brothers, mainly to find out where they hid the atomic bomb, and secondly to get a sample of Edward's automail technology. The two ran to England, where they met an expert on alchemy, Doctor Arthur Baldwin.

"What are you doing here Doctor?" Ed fired the first question. Both brothers were seated in the chairs across the desk from Baldwin, with Gabriel standing by the door.

"I should be asking you the same thing." Baldwin calmly replied. "But you did ask first." He sighed. "I work for the British government now, to study alchemy to support the Allied war effort."

"But alchemy doesn't exist in this world." Al stated; both brothers knew that well. Baldwin chuckled lightly.

"Nonetheless there are still people interested in it." Baldwin said, referring to the Thule Society from twenty years ago. "This is a war, anything can happen and the Allies have no desire to be left behind. They like to explore all possibilities." But Baldwin changed the subject. "But alas, now it is your turn. Why are you here? I remember sending the two of you home quite a long time ago." Ed and Al looked at each other.

"You didn't." Ed started, causing Baldwin to raise an eyebrow. "We thought we went through the Gate, but we didn't go home." Baldwin considered this briefly.

"Indeed. So it is as I had feared." Ed and Al looked back up at the doctor now. "My machine didn't work." They both remembered what the doctor had told them back then. Baldwin had created a machine, harnessing considerable electrical power that was supposed to be able to open the Gate. Of course, besides the machine, someone with knowledge of alchemy, and experience with the Gate was needed too and that made Ed and Al perfect candidates.

"We saw the Gate." Al started. "We saw it open before us." He recalled, and Baldwin listened intently. "But when we woke up, we were in Germany, in 1942."

"I'm sorry." Baldwin apologized. "Maybe my machine did work but it seems the Gate decided to send you somewhere else."

"Maybe you can try again Doctor?" Al asked hopefully, but Baldwin shook his head.

"I tried it several more times after you left, but all my test subjects either disappeared or returned dead." Baldwin looked disappointed. "I deemed it a failure and had it scrapped."

"Oh." Al and Ed looked away unhappily.

"Quite so. At least you're both alive and well." Baldwin smiled. "And imagine my surprise when Allied Intelligence told me that you were running around Germany and France, and captured by the Nazis no less!"

"Heh, well we have the Colonel to thank for rescuing us." Al looked back at Gabriel who didn't seem to react.

"Actually, it was the good Doctor here who requested Allied Command to retrieve you. I'm just the lackey carrying out the orders." Gabriel modestly deflected the attention away from himself.

"You did?" Ed finally seemed to have awakened at last.

"Well yes, mainly because I wanted to know what you were doing here still. But I seem to have gotten my answer to that."

"And?" Baldwin grinned.

"Still sharp as ever Edward." Baldwin relaxed into his chair. "It seems your arrival here was quite a stroke of luck, because we need your help, both of you."

"For what?" Ed asked reluctantly, he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer.

"We have reason to believe that the Nazis have constructed a Philosopher's Stone."

"WHAT?" Ed and Al slammed their hands on the desk and stood up.

"Allied Intelligence has provided us with information that the Nazis have been researching the Stone for the past couple of years." Baldwin continued. "And recently in the last few months there have been reports of strange activities occurring at a secret Nazi base in Norway. The base where we suspected they were conducting their research."

"What do you mean?" It was Ed who asked the question. Baldwin looked at the two seriously for a moment before replying.

"Reports have surfaced of half-men, half-beasts being sighted near the base."

"Chimera…" Ed whispered.

"But… but that's not possible!" Al gasped.

"Keep in mind, that quite a number of the Thule Society are now ranking members of the Nazi regime. Their interest in Shambala didn't fade when their invasion failed twenty years ago." Baldwin pointed out.

"But how can they do it without the power of alchemy?" Ed gritted his teeth. Baldwin shook his head.

"I'm afraid I don't know."

"How, how would they even have the knowledge of making one?" Al asked.

"I don't know that either. But I'm not the only one in this world who studies alchemy."

"Are you sure it's a real Philosopher's Stone?" Ed recalled that they had encountered many fake or incomplete ones before.

"That's why I need your help." Baldwin said, looking both squarely in the eye. "I need you to ascertain if it is real or not."

"Why us?" Al gradually sat back down in his chair.

"Because you two are the only ones in this world with any experience with the Stone." Baldwin waved at all the books in his office. "These do not give me any practical knowledge. You would know better then any of us, and that may be one of the reasons why the Germans went to so much trouble to find you." The Colonel then stepped into the conversation.

"I will be leading a team to raid the facility; we will go in and find out exactly what is going on in there."

"Yes, we would like you to accompany the assault team." Baldwin gestured at Gabriel. "You can consider this, your 'equivalent exchange' for your rescue." Ed looked slightly amused.

"And what if you find the Philosopher's Stone." Al whispered. "What if it's real?"

"Then we'll destroy it." Gabriel sounded very committed.

"We cannot allow something of such great power to fall into the wrong hands." Baldwin affirmed. Ed sat back down in his chair and looked Baldwin hard in the eyes.

"If it exists, then won't you want to study it too?" Baldwin did not flinch.

"You told me long ago Edward Elric, that the Philosopher's Stone was the cause of much suffering in your world." Ed could barely remember telling Baldwin that. "It is true, I am a scientist and as such, I want to know everything there is about alchemy. But I am doing it for the good of mankind, not to gain power. If what you said is true, then such a terrible thing must not be allowed to exist, regardless of its scientific value." Baldwin paused for a breath. "I, like you Elric brothers, only want to do what is right. Can I count on your help?" Ed and Al exchanged glances but their reply was not long in coming, and they answered simultaneously.

"We're in."

_To Be Continued…_


	7. Chapter 6: The End of the Peace

**CHAPTER 6: THE END OF THE PEACE

* * *

**

**Hotel, Central – June, 1927**

"Thanks for the dinner Miss Rockbell." 1st Lieutenant Jean Havoc said as he and Winry left the hotel cafeteria. The two had just finished eating, and she had decided to treat Havoc to the free meal since he had to sacrifice his date to be her escort.

"Hey! How many times do I have to tell you to call me Winry?" She pulled out a wrench from out of nowhere and gave Havoc a menacing look. "Miss Rockbell makes me sound old!" Den, standing beside her barked in agreement.

"Ah!" Havoc retreated and cowered at the sight of the large tool in her hand. "Sorry Miss Rock… I mean Winry!" Her evil look dissolved into a smile as she giggled lightly. Havoc looked a bit ruffled. _Who's the one here that needs protection?_

The three walked back towards her room with Winry and Den leading the way followed by Havoc. _Hrm… she really is cute._ He used one eye to look her up and down. _I wonder if she's still single. _Then he suddenly stopped himself. _No, if I make a move on her, that bastard of a Brigadier General will definitely steal her from me!_ Havoc's face quickly turned red. _I just know he stole my date tonight! How does he keep doing that? Why does he keep screwing me, his loyal subordinate, over and over?_

"Um… are you okay Lieutenant?" Havoc snapped out of it and realized that he was kneeling on the floor pounding on it with his fists, with Winry and Den looking down at him in confusion. Havoc quickly stood back up, embarrassed.

"Haha, nothing… I was just thinking off… something funny the Brigadier General said the other day… haha, yea that's it." She looked at him questioningly but accepted his answer and turned to resume her walk.

"Here we are, let me check the room for you first." Havoc said when they reached the door to her room. He opened it slowly after unlocking it and looked inside, and immediately noticed someone standing by the large window in the room. His reflexes were good because in an instant his gun was removed from its holster and trained on the figure.

"Wait!" Winry yelled from behind, startling the Lieutenant who had to restrain himself from accidentally pulling the trigger. She came up from behind and pushed the gun down with her hand.

"Huh? Do you know this guy?" Havoc referred to the man, who finally turned around to face the two people standing by the door way but stayed in the shadows.

"Yes, I do." Winry pushed through Havoc and into the room with Den. "Can I talk to him alone Lieutenant?" Havoc was flabbergasted.

"But I'm supposed to watch…" She turned and smiled at him reassuringly.

"It's okay, I'll be fine. I have Den here to protect me." Den barked again. Havoc sighed in resignation and walked out to the hall to close the door. Winry turned back to face the man and switched on the room's light. "Hello Gabriel." Havoc froze as he was shutting the door when he heard the name. Gabriel took off his fedora and smiled slightly at her.

"Nice to see you again Winry."

* * *

**Headquarters, Central – June, 1927**

"Boy he sure is in a good mood all of a sudden." Breda whispered to Fuery. Behind them Roy was putting on his coat, and his happy expression showed through even his large eye patch.

"Why wouldn't he be? He's going to snatch Havoc's date after all." Fuery replied. "Have you seen her? He wasn't kidding when he said she's hot."

"Well work hard people, I'll see you tomorrow." Roy waved at his very irritated subordinates who were still trying to finish the Brigadier General's paperwork as he headed towards the office door. He opened it only to see Major Riza Hawkeye standing there. "Oh? Back already Major?"

"Going somewhere Brigadier General?" She asked sternly. Roy's cool façade cracked a little.

"Just going to inspect one of the police stations before I head home for the night." He smiled nervously. Riza moved past Roy, grabbing his right ear in the process and dragged him back in.

"We have some work to do sir, I'm afraid you'll have to cancel your date tonight." She sounded irritated and Roy was in too much pain to reply. A couple of minutes later, everyone was back at their desks and Riza had briefed them on what Winry had told her.

"A red-eyed man?" Roy muttered. "Didn't you say you saw someone like that before at the other crime scenes?" Roy turned to look at Breda.

"Ah yea, I remember someone with that description present at most of the crime scenes involving the missing State Alchemists. He was watching us during the investigations."

"That could be our link sir." Riza suggested.

"As unlikely as it is, it could be just a coincidence." Roy frowned. "We're going to need more concrete evidence then that Major, even if he's our only lead."

"We just might Brigadier General." Roy looked up to see Falman standing in the door to the office holding a file. "We just got a report from the police, seems one of the city's top automail mechanics, a Ricky Burnett has disappeared."

"For how long?" Roy asked.

"Two days. His wife just filed a missing-person's report." Roy considered this new information quickly.

"I think we have enough to work with now." Roy concluded.

"I've already sent Lieutenants Ross and Brosh to the hotel to support Havoc." Roy smiled inside at Riza's initiative. The phone on Roy's desk started to ring and he swiftly picked it up.

"Brigadier General Roy Mustang speaking." _He loves flaunting that title around._ Riza frowned. "Yes Lieutenant. We're on our way." Roy hung up the phone and stood up from his desk.

"Sir?" Riza inquired.

"That was Lieutenant Havoc. It seems that our suspect has shown up at the hotel to pay our guest a visit." Before Roy could move, Riza had already gone to retrieve his jacket for him. "I told the Lieutenant to keep an eye on him for now."

"Are we going to the hotel?" Fuery asked.

"Yes, I think it's time I met this Gabriel in person."

* * *

"Why are you here?" Winry asked softly, she was sitting on the bed with Den at her feet who was keeping an eye on Gabriel. He had placed his hat on the small desk in the room but remained standing by the window only half facing her. 

"There has been a rash of abductions in Central in the last month, mostly State Alchemists but automail mechanics are being targeted now too." He turned to look straight at her. "Did Major Hawkeye not tell you this?" She looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know about Miss Riza?" He turned back to peer out the window.

"It's my job to know these things."

"I didn't know investors are supposed to spy on people." There was a tinge of hostility in her voice but Gabriel only chuckled.

"It was a bad cover I know." He visibly shrugged. "Best I could come up with on such short notice."

"Who are you then Gabriel?" She asked firmly. "Is that even your real name?" He turned and walked to sit down at the chair by the desk while scratching his head.

"No, that's my name. But I can't tell you more then that." He looked at her apologetically.

"Fine." She huffed. "But you know who's behind those abductions don't you?" This caught him off guard, and it showed.

"Yes." She stared at him with an unwavering expression. "I can't tell you who they are either, but let's just say they're the bad guys where I come from." Winry frowned in frustration.

"And of course, you're not going to tell me where you're from either." He nodded at her. _No one tells me anything, not the Major, not him, not even Ed and Al. _"Well, what can you tell me?" She was almost at the limit of her patience.

"You're in danger." He sounded very serious all of a sudden. "They've only taken State Alchemists before, six of them so far. But they took an automail mechanic the other day." He looked her straight in the eye. "And you may be next." Her jaw dropped.

"Why… why me?"

"It's probably because you're one of the best in the trade." _They really want that technology._

"So, that's why I feel like somebody's been watching me." She lowered her eyes to the floor. "And you've been watching me too haven't you?"

"Yes." He turned his eyes away also.

"Is that why you're here? To spy on me?" He paused for a bit to try to think of a response, but could not come up with anything other then the truth.

"I want to protect you Winry." He had to choke the words out; she looked up and noticed that he was blushing.

"Is that your also your job?" She asked more gently this time. He still avoided eye contact.

"No."

"Then why…"

"I knew someone like you once." He paused to take a deep breath while keeping his eyes cast downwards. "I promised her I would protect her, and I didn't." He voice was gradually getting lower. "She waited and waited for me to get her but I let her down." He finally looked at her, and his face was one of that in pain. "I failed her."

"Gabriel." She said with sympathy.

"No, I'm sorry." He cleared his face then stood up and started for the desk. "I shouldn't have tried to burden you with my past." He grabbed his hat and started towards the door.

"Wait." She stood up to stop him; he did when he reached the doorknob.

"Winry." He turned to look at her once more after putting his fedora back on. "Some big things are going to happen very soon. It's already started, and I can't stop it." He warned.

"What do you mean?" She pleaded, and again he looked at her apologetically.

"You'll know when you see it." He opened the door to leave. "Take care of yourself, and be careful." He stepped out and started closing the door. "Goodbye Winry."

Gabriel's words had caused a sudden flood of memories to come rushing back. Winry retreated several steps before sitting down on the bed again. She felt a torrent of conflicting emotions, her fear at Gabriel's warnings, the worry she had felt waiting for Edward, and the pain of being shut out by the Elric brothers so they could shoulder their burden alone. Her eyes begin to well up and tears started to flow down her cheeks, Den licked her hand to try and comfort her but she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Outside in the hallway Gabriel looked down and sighed deeply to himself. He turned to walk but was suddenly stopped by someone in a blue military uniform.

"Gabriel Mackenzie." Havoc started, Gabriel kept his head down. "We're going to have to detain you for questioning." Suddenly in a flash, Gabriel's left hand was at Havoc's neck, tucked in between his fingers was the shiny glint of a knife at his throat. Havoc swallowed hard.

"I think you're going to want to let me go." Gabriel said calmly without looking up. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of Havoc's face.

"Yea… yea I think I will." Havoc choked. The knife vanished as fast as it had appeared and Gabriel strode past Havoc and down the hallway until he was out of sight. Havoc felt his neck with his hands to make sure nothing was cut or missing, than opened the door slightly to peek inside so he can make sure Winry was okay. He saw her still sitting on the bed with Den on her lap quietly sobbing. Havoc closed the door again. _I'm not good with women, how am I supposed to handle one that's crying?_ As if almost on cue, 1st Lieutenant Maria Ross and 2nd Lieutenant Danny Brosh tapped on his shoulder from behind.

"Wha?" Havoc jumped back, nearing crashing into the door. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Sorry sir, Major Hawkeye sent us to assist you." Brosh said as he and Ross saluted him.

"Something wrong?" Ross was able to read Havoc's face. He pointed at the room.

"Yea you guys are late, and she's crying; someone should go and comfort her." Both Havoc and Brosh looked at Ross who just sighed and walked into the room.

* * *

Gabriel made it to the lobby before pausing briefly to collect himself. _What was I thinking? _He slapped his head again. _Oh right, I wasn't._ He thought sarcastically to himself. _Am I trying to replace her with Winry? _He already knew the answer to that though. _I better report back, and maybe if I asked real nice they'll send someone else to take over._ He sighed and started walking again. _Why did I get this assignment anyway? They train me to kill people, not to talk to them._

"Going somewhere?" Gabriel stopped at the heavily accented voice and felt something jabbing into his back. _Ah damn!_ He cursed silently and frowned.

"I must be getting rusty to let you Jerries get the drop on me." Gabriel's voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes, you should be careful not drop your guard like that Colonel." Gabriel felt the gun being jammed into his back relax a little.

"Neither should you." He pivoted with his right foot, his body moved so fast it caught the German by surprise, the man fired his gun but Gabriel was quick enough that the bullet only grazed the back of his trench-coat leaving behind a large cut. As he turned his body, Gabriel extended to swing his right arm and a knife appeared in between his fingers, cleanly slitting the German in the throat.

He had to strafe sideways to avoid the blood squirting from the dying man as he collapsed to the ground. _Damn, I didn't think they would move this fast._ He looked around and people were screaming or running away from the scene of violence in panic when suddenly the rattle of gunfire further up in the building caught his attention. His reflexes kicked in, and without thinking he launched into a sprint for the stairs. _I can't fail again! I won't! _He gritted his teeth as the adrenaline started to kick in.

"Hang on Winry!"

_To Be Continued…_


	8. Chapter 7: Assault on the Devil's Lair

**CHAPTER 7: ASSAULT ON THE DEVIL'S LAIR

* * *

**

**North Sea – July, 1943**

Edward Elric yawned tiredly as he hiked up the stairs to the boat's deck; he opened the door to the outside only to be blasted in the face with a gust of chilly and salty sea-air. The sky was dark as it was still the middle of the night; they were close to their destination, expecting to arrive with enough time to do their job before the sun arose from its slumber.

Alphonse had decided to attempt to get a few more winks before they landed. Ed himself was visibly exhausted but the apprehension kept him awake and thus decided to get some fresh air. Ed draped himself over the railings on one side of the boat and tried to relax, letting the wind blow into his face and through his hair. It was summer but the sea was already cool. Ed enjoyed the peaceful moment until someone walked up and leaned on the railings next to him.

"Hope you're not getting sea-sick." It was Gabriel. "It's too nice a night for that."

"No, I don't get to see the ocean much." Ed recalled that there was no significantly large body of water in Amestris. "Not where I come from."

"Really?" The Colonel sounded surprised. "Tell me about your home Edward."

"Not much to talk about. This is our home now." Then Ed tried to change the subject. "Do you actually believe in all this alchemy stuff Colonel?" He heard Gabriel chuckle a little.

"I'm just a soldier who follows orders, even if sometimes they don't make sense to me." Gabriel tapped on Ed's automail arm with a finger. "I wouldn't have believed this sort of technology existed until I saw it." He shrugged. "But it's real and its right here, so what's not to believe."

"Nice speech." Ed didn't make too much of an effort to hide the sarcasm.

"Thanks." Gabriel turned so that he could lean back on the railing. "But changing the topic of conversation is rude." Ed frowned. "Well if you won't tell me about your world, than tell me about this Winry." Ed looked horrified for a moment.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gabriel grinned tauntingly.

"I keep hearing you mention that name in your sleep." Gabriel leaned closer to Ed. "Is this Winry a pretty girl?" He whispered. Ed backed away although his face was red from blushing and not from anger.

"She's nobody!" Gabriel continued to grin at him, obviously having fun. Ed looked at him for a few seconds before relenting. "She's my automail mechanic; I've known her since as long as I can remember."

"Girlfriend?"

"No!" Ed again looked horrified, but it quickly dissolved to one of sadness. "No." He whispered quietly this time, he turned back to face the ocean. "When we were kids, she, Al and I were always together. She always looked after us, no matter what." Ed raised his automail hand to his face and stared at it. "Even after I was gone, she built this for me… and it was a perfect fit. She made it perfectly for me…" His eyes widened as if something just dawned on him. "Just for me…" Gabriel listened and looked at him depressingly.

"Yea that sounds like her." Gabriel muttered under his breath.

"Huh?" Ed perked an eyebrow at the Colonel.

"Ah nothing." Gabriel replied, scratching his head.

"By the way Colonel." Ed started."How old are you anyway? I'm guessing between thirty-two and thirty-five." Gabriel's face immediately darkened.

"Twenty-three…" The Colonel replied unhappily, causing Ed to laugh.

"You're joking! You look way older then that." Gabriel however was not amused.

"I may look old, but at least I'm tall enough for people to see me." Gabriel mocked. Ed's laughing face quickly changed to a very angry one.

"Yea, it's a small price to pay for looking younger then your age gramps." The two continued to exchange verbal insults until a voice from the front of the boat interrupted them.

"Land ho!" Both stopped and blinked for a second, and then backed off. Gabriel sighed and padded Ed on the shoulder.

"Well shorty." Ed frowned again. "Time to get ready, we're about to descend into hell."

* * *

**Nazi Base, Outside of Lillehammer – July, 1943**

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing Colonel?" Stanley asked without taking the binoculars off his eyes.

"I don't know." Gabriel replied hesitantly, lying on his belly next to the Lieutenant also peering out his own set of binoculars. They were on a small ridge, and in front of them was a fairly open field dotted by pine trees. Further was the Nazi base which was a single very large and flat, grey structure.

"Are they talking?" Stanley asked again. They were watching what looked like three watch dogs that had been patrolling the field between them and the base. The dogs had walked in a uniform pattern, before regrouping into a huddle where they are seemingly carrying out a conversation. "That can't be right."

"Chimera." Stanley and Gabriel turned to Ed, who was also lying on his belly besides the two soldiers. Al was next to Ed, and the rest of the assault team waited patiently behind them.

"Huh?" Stanley didn't know what he was talking about.

"Chimera, a creature composed from multiple living beings through alchemy." Ed explained and then gestured at the dogs they are observing. "Those things are probably a mix of animals and humans, hence why they look like that but can talk."

"Are you serious?" Stanley was in disbelief. "Now I've seen everything."

"We still have to get by those things." Gabriel turned back to his Lieutenant. "I don't like this; I don't see any guards, no watch towers, nothing. It's almost as if their security is dependent on talking dogs."

"It is supposed to be a secret base; they probably want to look as inconspicuous as possible." Stanley offered his explanation which seemed plausible.

"These chimeras, they're vulnerable right?" Gabriel asked the Elrics.

"Ah yes, they have the strength and weaknesses of the creatures they were composed from." Al said. "But they can be killed." _Just like Nina._ Al looked away. Gabriel didn't seem to notice, he looked at the cloudy night sky which was blocking much of the moon, meaning that the night was particularly dark.

"George and Heath should be able to hit them from here sir." Stanley suggested and Gabriel nodded in approval. The Lieutenant retreated to retrieve them.

"Brother?" Al tugged at Ed's military fatigues lightly to get his attention.

"What Al?"

"Can you feel it?" The younger Elric asked. Although the question was rather vague, Ed knew what his little brother was talking about.

"Yea just barely." Ed said, looking at Al and dropping to a whisper so only they could hear. "It's faint but ever since we got here, it's like that time you became the Stone… it feels the same." Al nodded, but their conversation was cut short by the arrival of the two snipers, whom promptly dispatched the chimera guards.

"You two remember the plan?" Gabriel asked the two brothers.

"We're not stupid." Ed replied; sounding irritated which caused Gabriel to grin.

"Good, let's move out." The Colonel turned and motioned at his team to proceed; he stood up and gave the Elrics one last look. "Good luck." Gabriel jumped down the small ridge, followed by everyone else. The entire group sprinted full out towards the facility until they were several hundred feet from it and splintered off into two separate groups. Stanley led the smaller one, with O'Reilly, Bannerman, Franklin and the Elrics, while the Colonel led the rest on a diversionary attack similar to the strategy they used to rescue Ed and Al.

The infiltration team waited patiently on the other side of the base for several minutes, when the rattling of gunfire signalled the beginning of the Colonel's attack. They charged up to the building where they found a metal door that was locked. Franklin attached some explosives quickly and blew it open and the four soldiers entered first followed by the Elrics.

The British soldiers disposed of several guards and continued through some hallways before encountering a flight of stairs that went deeper into the depths of the base, and they slowed to descend them carefully. The stairs deposited them into another hallway with double doors at the other end, with two large alcoves on both sides.

"Okay, let's go but stay alert." Stanley instructed. The intelligence they had received indicated that most of the research labs were located in the basements. They walked down the hall and proceeded through the doors carefully, which opened up into another long corridor with prison cells lining both sides, and another set of double-doors on the far end.

"What the…" Bannerman muttered. The entire place was brightly lit with numerous lights, showing that most of the cells were occupied.

"The hell is this?" Franklin finished, but no one knew the answer as everyone looked around in disbelief.

"Stop sight-seeing, we have to keep moving." Stanley reminded them all and started walking. However some shouting behind them caught their attention; and they turned in time to see a number of German soldiers running down the stairs towards them.

"Get down!" Someone yelled. Stanley instinctively pulled Ed and Al with him into one of the alcoves, while Franklin and Bannerman jumped into the other to avoid the first volley of shots. O'Reilly was not so fast, and took several bullets before crumbling to the floor in a heap.

"Man down!" Bannerman tried to reach the fallen soldier but Franklin held him back. Stanley leaned out to return fire with his Sten.

"Brother!" Al yelled loudly, Ed turned and saw Al pointing to the other end of the hall. The double-doors there burst open to reveal more heavily-armed German guards. Ed informed Stanley of the deteriorating situation.

"They've got us pinned down." The Lieutenant muttered angrily. "This isn't good." Ed and Al ducked to avoid the gunfire as the British soldiers shot back, but the Germans were also under cover making them difficult targets. The use of grenades was also out of the question in such close quarters. "We're trapped here!"

"I'm going to try something Al." Ed gritted his teeth in concentration, and Al knew immediately what he meant.

"I guess we don't have a choice." Al agreed.

"It's worth a try." Both knew that feeling from before had gotten stronger since they entered the base and now was as good a time as any to test their theory. Al nodded, and Ed clapped his hands together, then touched the wall with both and focused. Blue sparks appeared around them, which travelled along the wall a short distance in the direction of the stairs. Suddenly, the concrete wall itself extended across the hall between them and the guards, sealing it completely. The British soldiers looked at them in amazement.

"How the bloody hell did you just do that?" Stanley asked, clearly flabbergasted. Ed however was sweating lightly and looked tired. _That took a lot more effort then it used to, something's definitely wrong here if I can perform transmutations._

"That's alchemy." Al answered for Ed, he too noticed that the act had taken a lot out of him, more then it should. But they weren't out of danger yet, the other group of guards at the other end of the prison hall were still shooting at them, and the prisoners were getting very rowdy at the commotion which gave the Elrics an idea. They grinned wickedly at each other and nodded.

"You ready Al?"

"Let's do it." Both clapped their hands in unison and touched the floor. The entire hallway was consumed in blue sparks and light as the metal bars of the cells seemingly melted into the floor leaving no barrier to hold back the excited inmates, who all rushed out and mobbed the German guards.

"Nice trick." Stanley was impressed. Bannerman took the opportunity to check O'Reilly's vital signs, only to shake his head.

"We don't have time to dwell on it, grab his ammo and go, we'll have to leave the body." Franklin helped the other soldier strip the equipment off the corpse and the group started jogging down the hall. The prisoners were all too busy beating on the German guards and paid them no heed. As they continued past the empty prison cells, Ed's sixth sense lighted up, causing him to pause suddenly in front of one of the open cells.

"Brother?" Al turned back and asked when he noticed the older Elric had stopped. "What's wrong?" He inquired further when he didn't get a response; Ed was staring into the cell.

"Hey, what did I say about sight-seeing?" Stanley said in annoyance.

"Wait." Ed cut everyone off without shifting his eyes. Inside, hidden in the shadows was a figure sitting on a bunk. Ed couldn't see the person's face but something seemed familiar.

"Ed?" The person spoke in a soft voice that his brain immediately recognized, but he refused to believe his ears. The figure slowly stood up, and stepped into the light causing Ed's eyes to widen and his jaw to drop in total shock.

"Winry…"

_To Be Continued..._


	9. Chapter 8: Attack in Central

**CHAPTER 8: ATTACK IN CENTRAL

* * *

**

**Central – June, 1927**

Brigadier General Roy Mustang quietly sat in the back of the car as it drove towards the hotel where Winry Rockbell was staying. In the driver's seat was Major Riza Hawkeye, who was completely focused on her task. Behind them, was a second car following them, this one carrying Lieutenants Heymans Breda, Vato Falman and Kain Fuery. Eventually, Roy couldn't take it anymore and broke the silence.

"I suppose our date is cancelled tonight then." Roy said almost in a sigh. Riza did not seem to react.

"I'm sorry." She did sound disappointed.

"I had to go pretty far to make them think I was stealing Havoc's date." He was referring to his subordinates in the other car, causing Riza to give up a small smile that Roy barely noticed on the rear-view mirror.

"Do you think it's a good idea?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"This sort of thing isn't approved of within the military." She specified. Roy broke into one of his trademark grins of confidence, or arrogance depending on who's observing.

"Don't worry about that." He waved it off. "Besides, it's only been three dates." _And it's been unbelievably awkward, and we haven't even kissed yet._ Roy whined to himself. They had gotten so used to hiding and suppressing their feelings from each other that it was hard to let them out after all this time.

"The gossip in the military…" She started hesitantly.

"What? Those guys?" Roy pointed to the car behind them. "We're safe." He said confidently. "I'm the flame alchemist after all; they wouldn't dare cross me." His voice was brimming.

"I guess we can make up for it after all this business is done." She said and he seemed satisfied and resumed to look out the window with his one good eye.

"By the way Major." He started. "If I haven't told you before, you look very nice tonight." Roy kept his eye looking out the window; she saw this but blushed anyway.

"Thank you Brigadier General." She replied in a more relaxed voice than usual. She glanced next to her to Black Hayate who was looking at her and wagging his tail happily. They drove on for another minute without another word between them, but they were interrupted from their thoughts by the roar of an explosion.

"What?" Roy said in the back as he turned to look out the front. In the distance, the building they were heading to was spewing a cloud of dust and smoke that was clearly visible even in the night. "Major!" He said unnecessarily.

"I'm on it." She floored the gas pedal, causing the car to lurch forward. Roy was pushed back into his seat by the force of the acceleration, and the two vehicles sped towards their destination.

* * *

**Central Hotel – June, 1927**

Winry was in a nightmare. She was huddled in a corner of her hotel room, holding onto Den tightly. In front of her, Lieutenants Maria Ross and Denny Brosh were overturning the desk. Kneeling by the door frame was Lieutenant Jean Havoc, partially leaning out to take shots at the attackers with his pistol. Everyone was coughing though from the smoke caused by a grenade thrown by the attackers that had landed short of its target.

"Lieutenant Havoc!" Brosh yelled at his superior officer as he grunted under the strain of pushing the heavy desk along the floor. Havoc fired off a few more shots before getting out of the way as the desk was slid out of the room so that it spanned across the narrow hotel hallway.

"Winry!" Ross had to yell over the gunfire to get her attention. "Stay in here, and keep your head down." Ross smiled at her reassuringly before running towards her compatriots. Havoc and Brosh were now outside in the hallway behind the desk, using it as cover and shooting at the intruders. Havoc emptied his clip, popped it out, fetched another one from his pocket and smoothly reloaded his gun and resumed firing. "How many?" Ross asked, standing by the door frame.

"I don't know, three or four at least that I can see." Brosh replied without pausing, but then had to duck to avoid a burst of automatic fire.

"They're carrying some kind of machine guns!" Havoc shouted, he too had to duck as he was showered with wooden splinters. "We'll have to hold them off as long as we can; I'm sure the Brigadier General's on his way." Den was growling and Winry had to hold the dog back.

"Its okay Den." She patted him to calm him down, although in reality she was terrified. _He was right… they're coming after me.

* * *

_

Down the hall were three of the Germans, all dressed in black clothing, leaning out every so often to fire at the defenders. At that end, a second hallway intersected with the first to create a T-junction, further down the second hall were three more of them securing their rear when suddenly the doors to the stairwell burst open.

"What?" One of them yelped in surprise, Gabriel came flying out, his jacket and hat gone, and his left elbow met the face of one of them sending the man crashing into the wall, knocking him out. Without stopping, Gabriel swung out his left arm and threw a knife that plunged into the forehead of another Nazi agent.

"Damned Jerries!" Gabriel muttered in disgust. The third raised his handgun and started squeezing shots off, but Gabriel smoothly side-stepped those as he rushed his attacker. He ducked to avoid the fourth shot when he was within arm's reach and produced yet another knife from his sleeve and used his right arm to slice the attacker's hand causing him to drop the gun. Gabriel used his momentum to carry himself past the man, a third knife appeared in his left hand and he turned to drive it into the back of the German's neck before he could react. In a flash, all three Nazi agents were on the floor.

Gabriel took a second to look at his handiwork but the sound of a gun being fired snapped him back to attention. He turned to the direction of the gun blast and saw the other three agents further down the hallway, and one of them had a smoking pistol trained at him.

"Damn!" He realized it too late, as the bullet struck him in the lower right torso. The force of the impact caused him to fall backwards but not before he was able to throw the knife in his right hand. The flash of silver streaked across the space between them and managed to hit the attacker's gun, disarming him. Gabriel landed on the floor hard on his back. He quickly raised his head, and saw the three Germans yelling at each other. He looked at his wound and saw the blood stain on his clothes gradually spreading.

He cursed angrily, and watched as two of the Germans fired another long burst from their MP40 sub-machineguns before running around the corner and disappearing into the hall that contained Winry's room. His eyes widened immediately. _Damn! Winry!_ He gritted his teeth and concentrated on blocking out the pain as he stood up, the one German who had shot him stood at his position glaring at Gabriel. _I have to protect her…_

"Come on!" Gabriel challenged the lone Nazi agent blocking his way. He pulled out his last knife and launched into a sprint charging at his last obstacle who didn't budge. Gabriel wound up his right arm to launch his last weapon when the man knelt down and touched the floor with both hands. Red lights sparkled around the man and Gabriel halted his run to a dead stop when a series of concrete spikes exploded from the floor in a straight line towards him.

"Oh shit!" He cursed in surprise, and jumped quickly into one of the open rooms next to him to avoid the attack. "You're using alchemy?" He yelled as he poked his head out the door. "That's cheating!" He screamed angrily. The man seemingly ignored him and launched another identical attack at him.

"Ah!" Gabriel jumped out of harm's way back into the hall, hitting one of the other spikes hard causing him much pain. "Fine, if you want to do it that way." He muttered under his breath, and leaned to touch the wall and focused. "Two can play that game." Gabriel was bathed in red sparks and lights, startling the German who looked at him wide-eyed. The sparks ran along the wall and stopped right next to the man when a block of concrete exploded out and crushed the German into the opposing wall, splattering blood everywhere. Gabriel gasped for air tiredly, and from the pain from his wound as he bled from it. _I should've gotten more practice._ But he had no time to reflect as he picked himself up and ran to catch up to the others.

* * *

"Stay down!" Ross yelled back, she was standing in front of Winry, who was still crouched in the corner of the room with Den. Ross fired another two shots at the door, forcing the attackers to retreat back outside temporarily. In the hall, behind the broken and shattered desk that they had used as cover before, were Brosh and Havoc, lying on the floor unconscious and bleeding. She hoped they weren't dead. 

"No Lieutenant!" Winry protested. "I'll surrender!" Tears were forming around her eyes. "I don't want any more people to get hurt!" Ross gritted her teeth in frustration.

"We've already discussed that Winry." Ross explained again. "It's my job to make sure they don't get you, even if I have to die." She said with pure determination, not to mention it would not be the first, or the second time she's had to bail the young girl out of trouble.

"But Lieutenant!" Winry protested again, but she was cut short when both attackers leapt into the room and charged them with guns blazing. Ross got another shot off, taking one of them down but was hit by several bullets and collapsed on the ground in front of Winry. "NO!" Winry screamed and crawled towards the fallen Lieutenant. Den barked angrily and jumped at the last German who knocked the dog aside harshly with his weapon. "Stop it!" Winry screamed at the man, she was kneeling next to Ross trying to cover her wounds while the Lieutenant's blood split onto her clothes.

The man walked up to Winry, and grabbed her by her hair and pulled her up to her feet. She screamed in pain as tears flowed freely down her face. Den whimpered in the corner, trying to limp back to his feet. The man turned and aimed his gun at the dog, but Winry pushed it aside. "STOP IT!" She yelled, the man angrily slammed the barrel of his gun into her face, sending her to the floor.

"Shut up!" He yelled angrily. "You're coming with me." He leaned down to pick her up again.

"The hell she is." Winry heard the familiar voice and looked up to see Gabriel standing in the doorway, he looked like he was in agony and the lower half of his body was stained bright red.

"Gabriel!" She called out to him.

"Stupid Brits!" The man said in a rage, and raised his gun and fired. Gabriel dove into the room, just barely avoiding the bullets as he let loose his last knife which knocked the gun out of the German's hands. Gabriel rolled as he landed which allowed him to stand back up and charge the German. He was almost there, but the agent quickly knelt down to touch the floor, red sparks lit the room and the floor below Gabriel heaved upward violently launching him into the air where he hit the ceiling with considerable force. Gabriel came crashing back onto the ground, the wind knocked out of him.

"Gabriel!" Winry cried again in concern and tried to reach him but the German grabbed her and yanked her back.

"Enough of this!" He said. "We're leaving!" Gabriel looked up, he was too weak and in too much pain. He tried to gather himself, but his legs were slow to respond. His eyes couldn't focus but he watched as the Nazi agent activated his alchemy powers again. The room turned red and a small portal appeared in front of the man and he dove in, dragging a terrified Winry with him. Gabriel tried again to stand up, stretching his hand out towards her.

"Winry!" He yelled as loud as he could, before they both disappeared into the gapping blackness of the portal. In another second, the portal vanished and winked out of existence. "Damnit!" He screamed and pounded the floor. _I failed…_ Gabriel slowly crawled up on all fours trying to muster the strength to get back on his feet when he heard the clatter of footsteps behind him.

"What on earth happened here?" It was a man's voice, followed by the cocking of a gun. He turned his head slowly, a black-haired man and a woman who he knew as Major Riza Hawkeye were standing behind him, and she had her gun trained at him. Behind them, three more men were tending to their wounded comrades. "Speak up!" The man insisted in a louder voice. "Who are you and where is Winry Rockbell?" Gabriel lowered his head and sighed.

"I failed." Roy and Riza looked at him, puzzled. "They took her." Gabriel said quietly. _There's nothing more I can do now._ Suddenly red lights sparkled around Gabriel.

"Look out!" Roy pushed Riza out of the way as a slab of concrete emerged from the floor towards the two. Roy instinctively snapped his fingers and a burst of flames engulfed the slab, blowing it up. He grabbed Riza and shielded her as they were showered with chunks of concrete.

"Sir!" Riza pointed, he followed her hand where Gabriel jumped into a small black portal that disappeared immediately afterwards. "Was that…" Riza started asking, Roy gently released her when the debris stopped flying.

"Yes, it was." He said unhappily. Both recognized it, and knew what it was. They had seen it before, but in a much larger form and he knew exactly what it meant. "Major. Contact headquarters and have Colonel Armstrong put all military forces in Central on full alert."

"Sir?" She understood but wanted confirmation on such a huge order, Roy did not shift his stare at where the portal once was.

"Tell him, to prepare for an invasion."

_To Be Continued…_


	10. Chapter 9: Inside Pandora's Box

**CHAPTER 9: INSIDE PANDORA'S BOX

* * *

**

**Nazi Base – July, 1943**

Edward Elric stood frozen, his mind completely locked up and unable to think. It was like something out of a dream, and even then it was beyond any dream he has ever had. He had so much to say, but he didn't know where to start. All he could do was stand there, transfixed at the person who stood before him.

"Brother?" Alphonse Elric walked up next to him, still unaware of what was going on. "Are you alright?" His sibling inquired again when he got no answer.

"Al?" Winry Rockbell was startled again and Al finally turned in her direction.

"Winry!" He gasped.

"Friend of yours?" Lieutenant Stanley chimed in.

"You could say that." Al replied, still in shock. Stanley looked over her, and was the first to notice the dried blood stains covering much of her clothes.

"Are you hurt Miss?" The Lieutenant asked with concern, jolting her a little until she realized what he was referring to.

"No, I'm okay. It isn't mine." Then she remembered. "I hope Lieutenant Ross is alright." She whispered so quietly that almost no one heard her, but Ed did and it seemed to wake him up from his trance.

"Lieutenant Ross?" Ed repeated the name, before focusing his thoughts. "Winry, how did you get here?" The older Elric finally yammered out, the question caused her to break eye-contact with him as she turned away.

"I'm not sure… but I think I saw the Gate of Truth." Ed and Al's eyes both widened.

"What?" Al gasped again.

"These people…" She had to strain to recall. "I don't know who they are or how but they opened it and pulled me in… then all I remember was waking up here… and then you came." _The Nazis can open the Gate?_ Ed thought to himself, but stopped when he noticed that she was trembling.

"Ah…" He walked up close to her, he wanted to hold her and comfort her. "Winry…" She raised her head back up to look at him. "It's good to see you again." She smiled lightly and warmly at him.

"You've actually taken pretty good care of your automail, even after all this time." She looked at his metallic arm and put her hand on it and felt it. "Why are you guys here?" She asked, causing Ed to look away uncomfortably this time.

"It's a bit of a long story…"

"And we don't have the time for it right now." Stanley cut in suddenly, surprising everyone. "I hate to interrupt your reunion but we still have a job to do." The Lieutenant reminded.

"I haven't forgotten." Ed said with annoyance. He turned to look back at her. "It's too dangerous for her to come with us though." The Lieutenant agreed, and waved at one of the other soldiers.

"Franklin, stay behind and watch her. Make sure she's alright." Franklin didn't look too pleased.

"But sir…" He started but Stanley cut him off with a glare.

"Ed…" Winry started, as he took off his army jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Winry." He looked her straight in the eye. "When I get back, I'll explain everything." Then he broke out his cocky grin. "I promise."

"Don't worry, we'll be okay." Al also offered. She smiled again at them, and they turned to catch up to the others who had already started jogging away.

"It's just like you Ed." She whispered to herself as she watched them leave, looking concerned. "You always make me wait."

* * *

The elevator doors parted, and Stanley and Bannerman exited behind their Sten sub-machineguns as they cautiously and thoroughly checked the room. Ed and Al came out next, and the four relaxed slightly when the coast was cleared. 

"That was a long ride." Al complained.

"We must be a couple hundred feet below ground." Bannerman observed. The room was fairly well lit and decently sized. Three sets of double-doors occupied three of the walls while the elevator took up the forth.

"Bannerman, translation please." Stanley requested, and the other soldier took a second to read the three signs placed above the doors.

"Research Laboratories. Gallery and Vault. Storage and Processing." He read off one-by-one from left to right.

"Vault?" Stanley gave the Elrics a questioning look, and both gave their approval. "Let's proceed carefully." Stanley led the way and opened the double-doors in front of them.

Beyond the door, was a catwalk suspended from the ceiling by metal bars. The path was faintly lit by a row of lights but was otherwise surrounded by pitch blackness. The group slowly moved forward, with Stanley taking point, the Elrics in the middle and Bannerman bringing up the rear. They continued down the catwalk for another twenty feet or so when without warning, a series of bright lights turned on in succession. The group was startled and they looked around them in surprise.

"Who turned on the lights?" Bannerman yelped, but didn't see anyone else.

"I think we triggered them automatically." Stanley gestured for the group to calm down. They found themselves perched above a gigantic warehouse, the catwalk was at least three to four stories high off the floor and the room stretched nearly a hundred meters in all direction with grey concrete forming the walls and ceiling. They were all amazed at the sheer size of the facility considering how deep underground they were.

"Brother!" Al yelled, Ed turned and saw him pointing down to the right which their eyes all followed. The sight nearly sucked all the air out of their lungs. Below them, covering the entire right side of the huge room, were hundreds of large glass cylindrical tanks, each of them no less then 10 feet tall and all were filled with a glowing, crimson liquid.

"Red water…" The Elrics muttered simultaneously.

"What?" Stanley said while Bannerman was entranced by the sight.

"Components for making a Philosopher's Stone." Al explained, shaking his head. "But I haven't seen this much of it in a long time."

"Sir!" It was Bannerman this time, and he was looking down to the left of the catwalk, and the others turned their eyes to that side.

"My God…" Stanley declared, as they saw at least a hundred neatly arranged hospital beds. A number of them were occupied, all by women, each with countless tubes going in and out of their limp, seemingly-lifeless bodies. Even worst, they were all visibly pregnant.

"Are they dead?" Al's face became pale.

"No." Stanley answered pretty quickly. "You can see them breath." Everyone focused their eyes, and did indeed notice the chests of the women barely moving and everyone looked slightly relieved.

"They look like they're sedated." Bannerman suggested.

"Al." Ed grabbed his brother's attention. "Do you see that?" Al turned to where Ed was pointing at, and he quickly saw what his older brother was referring to. There were dozens of pipes extending from the tanks to the beds. Intravenous tubes hooked up to the pipes then fed the crimson liquid directly into the "patient's" bodies.

"They're injecting them with red water?" Al noted.

"Why?" Stanley asked, sounding puzzled. Ed's brain started ticking, sorting and digging through all the information he has ever digested.

"Al… do you remember Doctor Marcoh's research notes on the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Yea." Al's brain also boarded the same train of thought. "There were multiple ways to create fake or real stones." His eyes widened as the realization set in. "One of them was…" But he stuttered and couldn't finish, so Ed jumped in.

"Was to inject red water into the womb of a pregnant woman where it would crystallize into a red stone."

"What does that do to them?" Bannerman was referring to the "patients" and Ed gave him a straight answer.

"It'll kill them and the baby." Now both Bannerman and Stanley's face turned pale, and despite being battle-hardened soldiers they looked utterly sick.

"Monsters." Stanley said angrily. Everyone was silent for a moment before Al spoke up.

"Brother… we have to stop them." Ed nodded, and set his sights on yet another set of doors at the far end of the warehouse where the catwalk led to.

"Let's keep going." Stanley resumed walking and the others followed.

"There are the intruders!" They heard someone yell from behind, and turned. Behind them by the first door were a couple of dogs and wolves.

"Chimeras!" Ed identified them as the pack charged towards the four. Stanley and Bannerman raised their weapons and started firing, and two of the chimeras fell under the hail of bullets. The others however, were able to close the distance rapidly. One of them jumped, tackling Stanley hard enough that it sent them both flying off the catwalk.

"Lieutenant!" Al yelled, as he watched the man and the chimera fall and hit the floor with a loud thud. Neither of them got back up. Bannerman screamed in pain as one of the chimera wolves chomped on his arm with its powerful jaws, causing him to drop his weapon.

"Damn, hold on!" Ed thought quickly, clapped his hands and transmuted his automail arm into a sharp blade. He lunged at the chimera, causing it to release Bannerman's arm and retreat. "Al! Go!" He ordered, Al helped the wounded soldier up and they took off for the other doors while Ed held off the beasts.

"Brother!" Al yelled when he and Bannerman made it, causing Ed to glance back and his momentary lapse gave the chimeras an opening to attack, and they leapt at him. Ed however was faster, and he jumped back in time to avoid them. He clapped his hands in mid-air, and touched the metal catwalk with his left hand when he landed, and transmuted a number of steel vines that ensnared the beasts.

"Coming!" He turned and ran before the blue lights had faded. He knew the vines would not hold, he had to refrain from transmuting too much of the catwalk least it collapsed on him. When Ed reached the others he turned and saw that some of the chimeras had broken free and were rushing towards them.

"Al!"

"Ready when you are!" His brother replied. They both stood behind the door in a corridor with Bannerman behind them. They clapped their hands and transmuted a wall of concrete in front of them.

"That should hold them off." Ed said with relief. Al went to tend to the injured soldier. He helped Bannerman retrieve some bandages from his pack, and dressed up his bleeding arm. Ed looked past them and down the corridor. This one was much shorter, and ended with what appeared to be a very large and thick set of steel doors. He also noticed the tingling sensation from before was stronger than ever.

"Okay, I'm fine." Bannerman thanked Al and stood up. The three walked up to the door.

"Think this is it?" Al asked.

"Yea, whatever's behind it; they want to protect it." Ed touched the cold steel.

"How do we open it?" Bannerman seemed stumped, and Ed grinned.

"We don't." Ed clapped his hands, touched the doors and in seconds a gapping hole had appeared.

"Alchemy… very useful." Was all Bannerman could muster as they walked through. They were standing on a balcony, with two curving stairs leading downwards to a lower floor filled with all varieties of equipment and tools. The entire room was in the shape of a vertical cylinder and cavernous, although not as large as the warehouse they were in before. Besides them there was no one else there. But it was the object that was hanging in the middle of the room that caught their attention.

"Brother…" Al stammered in awe.

"Wow…" Bannerman was amazed and Ed couldn't find anything to say. The entire room was basking in the crimson glow of a polygonal stone, it was suspended from a number of cables and struts protruding from the ceiling of the room. The Elrics had seen this light before, and it was absolutely beautiful. They already knew what it was though, the feeling they've experienced before, it was the exact same.

"The Philosopher's Stone…" Ed finally whispered. But something was different about it, and the Elrics also knew right away what it was for it couldn't be anymore obvious. The stone was at least four stories tall.

"It's gigantic." Al exclaimed. Ed turned, and walked down the stairs to get closer to it, followed by Al when suddenly one of the side doors on the lower level burst open. They both froze while Bannerman reached for his holstered pistol.

"Hold your fire!" Colonel Gabriel Mackenzie shouted, putting his arm up as he lowered his weapon and gestured for the others behind him to do the same. Everyone relaxed, and sighed in relief.

"Colonel!" Al said surprisingly, Gabriel nodded at him.

"Fancy seeing you here." Then he looked up. "Holy sweet Jesus." He cursed when his eyes locked onto the stone. "That thing's huge!" Ed moved over, right up to it and slowly touched it softy with his left hand. The stone grew instantly brighter, reacting with him. He didn't do anything but was able to feel its raw power surging through his body before he backed off. He felt completely rejuvenated and energized.

"Brother?" Ed didn't answer.

"I take it that thing is real?" Gabriel concluded, and Ed nodded. The Colonel turned and ordered the other soldiers to secure the room and entry-ways before turning to Bannerman. "Where's Stanley?"

"He didn't make it, neither did O'Reilly and we left Franklin to take care of some business." Bannerman replied; eyes down. Gabriel motioned for the medic.

"Take a look at his arm." He pointed at Bannerman, then turned and noticed the Elrics were discussing something between themselves before they both walked up to the stone. "What are you two up to?"

"We're going to do what we came here to do." Ed replied, not looking back.

"How?" The Colonel asked curiously.

"The Philosopher's Stone allows us to ignore the law of equivalent exchange during transmutations." Al explained. "But some of it is still used up during the process. We'll transmute a new arm and leg for brother first, but if we transmute something big after, such as this entire base, over and over again we'll eventually use the whole thing up."

"Al, you ready?" They positioned themselves in front of the crimson elixir.

"Always am brother." Al said with determination. "Let's destroy this thing." They clapped their hands and moved to press their palms against the glowing object.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that." Gabriel's voice caused them to stop, and they both turned to look back. To their surprise, the Colonel had his pistol pointed directly at Ed's head. Two more British soldiers approached them from behind, also with their weapons trained at them.

"Colonel, is this a joke?" Ed was flustered, and Al looked confused. But Gabriel didn't laugh, or smile. Instead, he looked at the brothers sternly. His eyes and weapon did not waver in the slightest as he spoke in a calm tone.

"That stone belongs to us now."

_To Be Continued…_


	11. Chapter 10: A Vicious Cycle

**CHAPTER 10: A VICIOUS CYCLE

* * *

**

**Nazi Base – July, 1943**

Edward was not happy, instead he's downright fuming. He's been betrayed before, had people turn and stab him in the back but this one bested them all. He should've known not to trust these people so readily and quickly but he did and now he's the one with egg on his face. Ed and Alphonse sat next to each other on the cold floor, several feet apart. Their hands were tied with thick rope and their arms stretched upward and apart so they couldn't bring their hands together to form a circle and perform transmutations. They had been sitting like this for at least a half hour.

"Colonel!" Ed called out at the man who standing in front of, and admiring the enormous Philosopher's Stone. "What do you think you're going to do with that?" He asked even though the officer didn't seem to acknowledge him.

"Nothing." Gabriel Mackenzie answered quietly without looking at him. "I'm not going to do anything." It didn't take a genius to understand what he was implying. The Philosopher's Stone was a tool for alchemists and there were only two in the room.

"We won't cooperate." Al said defiantly. "That thing was created through suffering, and it will bring nothing but more suffering." The younger Elric pleaded. "You have to destroy it."

"I can't." Gabriel said, shaking his head.

"Then to hell with you!" Gabriel could see the fire burning within Ed's eyes.

"Ah yes Edward, you are as spirited as ever." The Elrics were startled by the voice. They turned to the direction of its source and saw Doctor Arthur Baldwin, dressed sharply in a dark green suit, emerge from the tunnel that Gabriel and his team had entered from, with two British soldiers in tow.

"Doctor." Gabriel greeted the elderly professor politely.

"Doctor Baldwin!" Al gasped in surprise. "What are you doing here?" The old man turned to the two captives and smiled broadly at them.

"I came to collect my prize."

* * *

"Beautiful, absolutely magnificent." The professor was busily examining the Crimson Elixir, its red glow reflecting off his glasses. "My theory was correct, a Philosopher's Stone can be made by fusing thousands of red stones together, and it would appear that our Nazi friends have succeeded beyond my expectations." He smiled happily again, as a child in a candy store would. 

"Baldwin you old bastard!" Ed shouted with hostility, he tried to move forward but the ropes held him back. "You said you were going to destroy it!"

"I lied." The Doctor replied coolly.

"What are you going to do with it?" Ed asked tauntingly. "Study it? Did you lie about that too?" Baldwin shook his head slightly.

"Study it? That would be a terrible waste of its glorious power." He gestured at the stone. "Even in this world, its mere presence allows you to perform transmutations!" He turned to the brothers, still grinning as they glared at him. "We will use it to reopen the Gate to Shambala."

"We should've known; it's always the same thing." Ed retorted. "But it's like I've told you before old man, that place isn't Shambala." Baldwin waved them off.

"Call it what you wish, but it will be opened to us." He looked at them gleefully again. "And you brothers will help me do it."

"You must be getting senile to think we'll help you." Ed replied.

"We'll stop you." Al added in, adding to their air of defiance.

"Stop me?" Baldwin said mockingly. "Even if you do, others will follow in my footsteps." He chuckled as he walked towards the brothers. "You youngsters must realize that the Philosopher's Stone is as legendary in my world as it is in yours." He leaned closer to them. "For as long as civilization has existed, man has been trying to obtain it and harness its power."

"Do you even know what it's made of?" Ed rudely interrupted.

"Yes!" Baldwin answered. "The souls of the living!" Ed and Al were caught off guard. "Oh now don't be so surprised." He noticed their reaction. "The secret ingredient ceased to be a secret a long time ago." The Doctor stepped back. "Why do you think so many great wars have been waged in our history? Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Attila the Hun, Napoleon, they all conducted massive campaigns of conquests. They did it not only for fame and fortune, but to also use the wars to harvest the lives needed to make their own Philosopher's Stone."

"Are you saying…" Al muttered, horrified as he recalled the true reason behind the Ishbalan War.

"Yes, the Second World War is Hitler's attempt to obtain his own Crimson Elixir. He is the latest in a long line of people who have started a conflict for that purpose." The senior smiled at them. "So even if you stop me, someone else will try again in the future, and again and again. It is a vicious cycle that never ends." He glanced back at the stone. "And the Fuhrer has even added his own, personal touch to it."

"What do you mean?" Al inquired.

"Very few people outside of the Nazi regime know about this, so I would not expect you to." Baldwin explained. "This is the result of Hitler's Final Solution." He pointed to the stone. "Right there before you, are the souls of millions of Jews, gypsies and homosexuals in addition to those who have died fighting in the war."

"What…" Ed and Al's jaws both dropped, their faces quickly turned pale.

"This is the reason why the Allies have withheld from destroying the Nazi Concentration Camps. We would not want to cut off their primary source of red water." Baldwin faced them again, his broad smile had returned. "And I am the one who made this all possible!" He announced proudly.

"You mean the Nazis did don't you?" Ed mocked. Baldwin's enthusiasm however, did not waver.

"They could not have done anything without me!" He stated. "You see all these instruments?" He waved his hand around the room. "I designed them all, and all their knowledge came from me!"

"You worked for them?" Al accused, and Baldwin shook his head.

"Not at all, I only leaked the information they needed and prodded them along."

"So you wouldn't have to get your fingers dirty." Ed noted.

"And you would be correct." The Doctor started. "When I discovered how the stone was made, I knew the British government would never have the backbone to do what is necessary to manufacture one. The Nazis on the other hand, would have no such problem." Baldwin looked straight at them. "So I manipulated the Germans into doing it for us."

"You're insane!" Al shot at him.

"There is indeed a fine line between madness and brilliance."

"You're not brilliant. You're just another power-hungry idiot." Ed continued to provoke the professor, who ignored his jabs.

"Enough, I have no intention of getting into a contest of insults with you." Baldwin turned to Gabriel. "Colonel, if you will." Gabriel then drew his pistol once more and aimed it squarely at Al's head. "If you value your lives, you will cooperate with us." Baldwin's voice was devoid of emotion.

"If you're going to shoot us, go ahead." Ed stared hard at the Doctor and the Colonel. "Al and I made a pact." He turned to his little brother. "The safety of our world is far more important then our lives. We will never sacrifice it to protect ourselves." Al too, gave the Doctor a firm look of resolve without any hesitation.

"I am impressed." Baldwin stated. "It seems that you have both matured much." He sighed slightly. "But your stubbornness was quite predictable, and I had planned for such an eventuality." He turned towards the balcony. "Lieutenant, please bring our guest in." Everyone shifted their eyes to the gapping hole in the steel vault door to see Winry walk in, her hands tied together in front of her and a rope gagging her mouth. Following her was Lieutenant Franklin with a pistol at her back.

"Winry!" Al yelled. Baldwin nodded at Franklin, who removed the gag that prevented her from speaking.

"Ed! Al!" She yelled back at them.

"Winry?" Gabriel gasped, his face frozen in total shock. She turned to his voice, and her eyes grew wide.

"Gabriel?" She startled.

"You know each other?" Ed asked.

"We met in Central." She replied and it all clicked together for Ed, and his rage grew ten-fold.

"You lied to me too Colonel!" He yelled at Gabriel who was still in shock. "Bastard! Did you bring her here?" Gabriel was jolted by the accusation.

"What… no." He stammered, as his mind fumbled for words. "The Germans did… I tried to stop them."

"A fine job you did." Ed said sarcastically.

"The Colonel's incompetence worked out in the end." Baldwin noted.

"Doctor." Al said, sounding a bit calmer, he controlled his anger much better then his brother. "If you can send people through the Gate to our world, why do you need us to open it for you?"

"The Colonel here was a member of the Crimson Soldier Project." He gestured at Gabriel. "You see, while we lacked the resources to create a Philosopher's Stone, we were able to produce a number of fake ones. Red stones, which we would inject directly into the bloodstream of a subject. If successful, I would send them to the Gate using my machine, which I also lied about destroying, and they would use the power of the red stones to force their way through the Gate to your world."

"They didn't use any machines to get to the Gate." Winry was referring to her previous captors.

"No, of course not. Alchemy is possible in your world, and the red stones had real power there. Once in your world, they can utilize them to open a portal to the Gate without the need of my machine." Baldwin explained.

"Then what's the problem with your method?" Al inquired further.

"Well, it is highly inefficient for one. Most do not survive the injection process, the Colonel here is one of the lucky few that did." He gestured at Gabriel again who was growing increasingly uncomfortable. "It also takes a lot out of the subjects, they have to exert considerable effort to force their way through the Gate." He turned back to the Elrics. "That is why I want you to use the Philosopher's Stone to open the Gate permanently, so anyone can travel freely between our worlds."

"And you told the Nazis all of this?" Ed asked.

"Well not all." Baldwin shrugged. "But they are a smart bunch, and it appears they figured it out on their own." He motioned for Franklin to escort Winry to the lower level. "But back to business. I have a proposal to make." He said as he turned to face them again. "You will open the Gate, or your friend dies."

"You bastard!" Ed barked angrily, pulling at his restraints.

"Doctor!" Gabriel protested, but Baldwin ignored him.

"Ed! Al! I heard everything he said." Winry shouted. "Don't do it!"

"This is the equivalent exchange for her life." Baldwin continued, with a smirk. "That is something you both can understand."

"Doctor, you can't do this!" Gabriel had taken his weapon off of Al and had moved towards the professor to voice his complaint.

"Quiet Colonel." The old man cut him off. "What will it be?" He asked the Elrics. Ed glared at him, but then relented and lowered his head.

"I'll do it." He whispered in defeat. Al looked at his brother, then at Winry and nodded.

"Me too." He added.

"No! Don't!" Winry tried again to no effect. Two of the soldiers freed the Elrics from their restraints.

"Please, do not attempt anything foolish." Baldwin warned. Franklin moved his gun from Winry's back to her head and the two soldiers watching the Elrics trained their weapons at them too.

"Ed! Don't do it!" Winry screamed at him, pleading for him to stop. Ed looked at her and smiled lightly with remorse.

"Winry." He said quietly. "I'll do anything to protect you." Gabriel's eyes widened at the words. _Protect her._

"Ed." She answered softly, tears forming in her eyes. Ed and Al nodded at each other, clapped their hands and once again moved to press their palms up to the glowing stone. _Not again! _Gabriel struggled with himself. _No! _ _I won't let it happen again!_

"Edward!" The Elrics froze and they turned to see the Colonel falling to one knee to touch the floor with both his hands. Red sparks danced along the floor of the entire room and the ground below some of the soldiers lurched upward, knocking them off their feet. Ed's reflexes kicked in, he transmuted his automail arm into a blade and promptly sliced the rifles of the two soldiers guarding him and Al in half. Al dropped to his knee also, touching the floor and transmuted a wall around the balcony to fence in the soldiers there as total chaos broke out.

"Colonel!" The professor yelled angrily at the officer. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" Gabriel threw several knives to disarm more of his troops, before addressing the professor.

"I'm sorry Doctor, but I can't let you do this." He said with some regret. Behind them Ed charged Franklin and jumped at the Lieutenant, leg first. His metallic foot made a sickening crunch when it came into contact with the soldier's face, knocking him away. He then cut Winry free before changing his automail arm back.

"Guys! This way!" They turned and saw Gabriel waving at them and pointing at the door by the lower level. Ed grabbed Winry's hand and the four raced to the exit as they were chased by numerous bullets that were being fired at them. When they reached it, Al transmuted another wall behind them to seal their escape route.

"Quick, get some explosives and blow that thing open!" One of the soldiers ordered.

"No, let them go." Baldwin stopped him; his face was red with anger. _I should not have relied on that sentimental fool! _He could feel the veins on his forehead pulsating. _They will not ruin my dream!_

"But Doctor…"

"It does not matter, I had prepared for this also. This is only a minor setback." He gradually calmed himself down. "Major, has my equipment been brought to the base?"

"Yes Doctor." The soldier replied.

"Good, bring it down here immediately." The officer nodded, and moved to carry out his order. "Oh and one more thing." Baldwin stopped him. "Contact Command, and tell them to ready the attack force."

"Yes Doctor." Baldwin watched him leave; then turned back to appreciate his latest acquisition. _Do you think you have stopped me Colonel? You have only delayed the inevitable. You can all run, but soon you will have nowhere to hide. _The professor grinned merrily at the thought.

"Shambala will be mine."

_To Be Continued…_


	12. Chapter 11: His Reasons

**CHAPTER 11: HIS REASONS

* * *

**

**Nazi Base – July, 1943**

Gabriel sprinted down the dimly-lit tunnel as fast as he could, with Edward, Alphonse and Winry in tow. He had to get the brothers and her as far away from Doctor Baldwin as possible. The tunnel extended another fifty feet or so before it made a left turn. As they rounded the corner he finally slowed down so that they could take a rest.

"This will take us back to the surface, we can figure out what to do once we're out of the base." Gabriel said in between breaths. He then turned to check on everyone else, as he had failed to do so earlier in his haste, only to catch a glimpse of Ed's metallic fist slamming into his face.

"Ed!" Winry screamed and watched Gabriel hit the wall from the force of the punch. The Colonel was dazed and started to fall but before he could do so, Ed kneed him hard in the gut with his automail leg and decked him a second time in the face with his real arm. Gabriel flew a few feet before crashing to the floor in a crumpled heap.

"Brother!" This time it was Al. Ed was seething as he walked towards the fallen soldier. Winry wrapped her arms around his chest from behind to hold him back.

"Stop it Ed!" She yelled. "Please!" Winry begged him, as she struggled to stop the enraged alchemist from advancing any further.

"You think this makes up for what you've done?" Ed yelled angrily.

"No. It doesn't." Gabriel replied meekly, as he painfully tried to get up. "It's okay Winry." He coughed and wheezed while keeping his head down. "He's right to do that." She felt Ed relax a little at hearing those words, and he stopped fighting against her restraint.

"Gabriel." She noticed the growing red botch on the lower half of his green army shirt. He looked up, and saw what they were all looking at.

"Yea, that's from the bullet I took back in Central, when I tried to stop them." He managed to stand back up on both feet, albeit somewhat wobbly. "Hasn't had a chance to completely heal yet." Al moved over to the Colonel and helped steady him. Winry let Ed go who had calmed down a tad by now, and the younger Elric looked at the officer straight in the eyes.

"I think its time you did some explaining Colonel."

* * *

**Central – June, 1927**

Brigadier General Roy Mustang hung up the phone in annoyance, his face reflected his mood. He was frustrated and fed up with the bureaucracy of the military.

"Was that General Hakuro again sir?" Major Riza Hawkeye asked from her desk.

"They're already complaining about how much it's costing us to keep all of Central's forces on alert." Roy huffed.

"It has been a week and a half since the incident at the hotel." She reminded her superior officer. "You know how tight they keep the military in check now."

"And we have the Fuhrer to thank for that." He referred to the long-deposed dictator of Amestris. "But it's times like these that he didn't seem so bad. The military's budget has been severely reduced since the Parliament took over. And they're refusing to bring in more troops from the borders to reinforce the garrison here."

"I suppose we'll have to make do." Riza concluded, and Roy stood up from his desk and strolled over to hers.

"You know Major." His voice changed to one that was more casual. "We never made up for that missed date." He sat down on her desk.

"We haven't had the time since you put us on full alert." She replied plainly, although he knew she was taking a jab at him.

"You're right, we've both been stuck in this room for days working non-stop." He grinned at her. "I think we both deserve a little time to ourselves, especially since we're alone right now."

"Brigadier General!" She was more then a little surprised and their eyes met as he leaned in close to her. _Aw hell, it's now or never. _Roy convinced himself.

"You still owe me a kiss." He mustered his most charming voice, and she visibly blushed.

"I guess… I do." She stammered out quietly. Roy aimed his lips for hers, and they both closed their eyes as they inched closer and closer and… they were both suddenly washed over with a wave of intense nausea which caused Roy to back off. He felt highly disorientated for a few seconds before it subsided. It took some effort but he managed to focus his eye on her, and noticed that she too looked very uneasy.

"Did you feel that too?" He was hoping that his move on her was not the source of her discomfort. She nodded. "What was that?" Neither of them knew, but then a bright, red flash from outside the office window caught their eyes.

"What?" He muttered, and moved back to his desk to look out the window. But as he did so his phone started ringing. They exchanged glances before he answered it.

"Brigadier General!" Lieutenant Kain Fuery exclaimed excitedly on the other end. "You better come up here!" Fuery was working as a lookout on the roof of the Central Headquarters building.

"What is it?" Roy inquired.

"I can't explain it, just come and see! Hurry!" Roy hung up and looked at Riza briefly before the two dashed out of the room.

* * *

Gabriel had recovered from earlier, and he took point again to lead the pack through the maze of corridors. They were walking at a brisk pace now instead of running but then they all paused when they briefly felt sick to their stomach. 

"Are you okay Winry?" Ed asked as he shook it off and noticed that everyone else felt it too. She nodded back at him.

"What was that?" Al asked.

"I don't know." Gabriel replied. "But we should keep moving." He suggested when he saw that everyone was alright. They all knew that something was definitely wrong but there was little they could do at the moment.

"You can regale us with your tale anytime Colonel." Ed reminded him, who smirked at the remark and turned to resume their trek.

"I met her about eight years ago." He started his story. "Her name was Winnie Perkins." Ed, Al, and Winry's eyes widened at the name. Gabriel glanced back, and smiled lightly at their reaction. "As Doctor Baldwin explained to me, she was our world's counterpart of Winry. She looked exactly like you." He turned back to face forward and continued. "She was incredible, beautiful and brilliantly smart. She was an expert at alchemy." Everyone noted the irony. "In terms of research anyway, she couldn't perform any of it of course." Gabriel cleared up. "Long story short, we fell in love and got engaged."

"Is that why…?" Winry said quietly to herself, it was all beginning to make sense now. Gabriel kept going, as if he didn't hear her.

"Fives years ago, she went to study under Doctor Baldwin. Everything went well for her, and we were all set to get married. But then the war started." His voice noticeably darkened. "Shortly after, she was kidnapped by the Nazis and disappeared." He paused for a few seconds. "I had joined the British Army by then when I found out. I don't know what happened to her but I swore I would find out, so I worked my way up through the ranks of the Special Air Service. She was gone for over a year before we heard anything about her. Our intelligence got word that she was being held at a Nazi research facility deep inside Germany, and forced to work for them. Doctor Baldwin vouched for us and so they let me take a team in to rescue her."

"What happened?" Al asked when Gabriel fell silent for awhile.

"It was a complete disaster." The Colonel's voice was hard, grim and they couldn't see his face. "It was almost as if they knew we were coming. Most of my men were killed, but I found her." He stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. "Then she was executed right in front of me."

"Gabriel…" Winry whispered, tears forming around her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"I was so close; I could almost reach out and touch her. And they just shot her like that." The Colonel raised his left arm to lean against the wall. "I never even got to say goodbye." _Goodbye._ The word hit Ed like a ton of bricks, but his thoughts were cut off when he felt something grabbing his right hand. He looked down his arm, and saw Winry's hand holding his.

"Ed…" She could barely be heard, and the tears were now streaming down her face which she kept downward to the floor. She squeezed his hand, and he did too. Gabriel collected himself and resumed walking.

"A couple of my men and I made it back out. Let's just say my will to live sort of died with her." Gabriel tried to lighten the mood, but failed miserably. "But the good Doctor consoled me, and took me under his wings. I ended up volunteering for the Crimson Soldier Project."

"Why?" Ed asked him.

"Revenge. I wanted nothing but revenge." Gabriel's voice was filled with hatred. "I wanted to kill every single Nazi bastard for what they did, no matter what it cost me." Ed could relate to that. "I was sent to your world, to gather information on you brothers and to keep an eye on one of the most famous automail mechanics there is." They heard the Colonel chuckle. "Imagine my surprise when I saw who it was." Winry didn't respond, she didn't know how to. "Of course, I failed, again."

"Why does the Doctor want to open the Gate permanently? Does he want to take over our world?" Ed questioned hostilely. The group had reached a dead end in the tunnels, and a long ascending ladder stood before them. Gabriel turned to face the group for the first time in awhile. He looked very pained.

"You must understand." He explained. "With the power of alchemy, we could manufacturer countless weapons in no time. And with automail technology we could make ourselves stronger then ever. With these advantages, we would crush the Nazis once and for all."

"So you can have your revenge." Ed shot at him.

"They have to be stopped." Gabriel shook his head. "You've seen the things they've done." He referred to the numerous horrors and atrocities they witnessed in the base.

"But you're the ones who gave them the tools and the knowledge to those things in the first place!" Ed's anger was rising again. "And you let them do it! You're not any better." Gabriel was taken aback.

"I… I let it all happen." The Colonel mumbled, as the truth of Ed's words sunk in harshly.

"Colonel." Al walked forward closer to Gabriel. "Long ago, my brother and I did something terrible and very wrong. We did it because we were arrogant, and because we thought it would be worth it." The Colonel saw that both Al and Ed both appeared sad now, and he didn't know what to say. "But it wasn't, in the end it resulted in a lot of pain and suffering, for us and for those close to us."

"And how did you deal with it?" The younger Elric smiled lightly at the question.

"We did the only thing we could do. We picked ourselves up and we walked forward." Al put his hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "Dwelling on the past won't help, because you can't change it." A minute of silence passed between them as the Colonel absorbed and digested what was said.

"Walk forward…" Gabriel repeated the words, and collected himself to refocus on the task at hand.

"Why did you help us back there?" Ed was still not completely trustful of the man who had betrayed them before. They looked each other in the eye for a few seconds, before the Colonel's glance shifted to Winry.

"Because I couldn't let her down again." He said softly.

"She's not Winnie." Ed reminded him. "You think by doing this, you can make up for failing her?." Gabriel broke into a thin smile.

"No, not anymore, I know nothing I do will ever make up for that." He turned and jumped on the ladder. "But this is the right thing to do... the least I can do to right some of my sins." Then he started climbing as Ed watched.

"Brother?" Al whispered from behind, causing Ed's hard look to crumble.

"I guess we don't have a choice anyway." He sighed, and got on the ladder. Winry went next with Al bringing up the rear. It would be several minutes before they reached the top, and just in time too as their arms were getting worn. Gabriel lifted a hatch at the end of the ladder causing bright sunlight to flood into the otherwise dark shaft. They had to shield their eyes, and Gabriel staggered out first followed by Ed who turned to help Winry and Al.

"Let's not do that again anytime soon." Al was breathing hard from the exercise. Ed and Winry agreed with him as they sat down on the grass next to the hatch to rest.

"Colonel?" Ed turned when Gabriel didn't join them or spoke. The officer was standing, facing away and staring at something.

"It can't be…" They heard him mutter. "No, it's impossible." Their curiosity grew and they got back on their feet to join him. Their jaws collectively dropped when they saw what Gabriel had been looking at.

"Is that… Central?" Al gasped. They were standing on top of a grassy hill which gently curved down towards a large metropolitan center that they all immediately recognized.

"No… there's no way." Gabriel argued. "The Doctor can't open the Gate."

"He didn't have to." Ed said grimly, the sight before him confirmed what he had feared before when they were all struck by that wave of queasiness.

"Ed?" He turned to face Winry who was already looking at him. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the droning of what sounded like a horde of bumblebees, and the bright sunlight around them suddenly faded.

"Brother!" Al had tilted his head upwards. Above them, were hundreds of airplanes, so numerous that they formed a giant cloud of black-dots that blocked out the sun. They were all flying in tight formations heading straight towards the large city.

"Oh no." Gabriel gasped in horror. Even at their high altitude he could identify the planes by their familiar shapes. "If that's Central, then that means…"

"What?" Winry asked.

"Those are British and American warplanes." They could see the dread in Gabriel's eyes. "The Allied invasion of your world… it's begun."

_To Be Continued…_


	13. Chapter 12: The Second Invasion

**CHAPTER 12: THE SECOND INVASION

* * *

**

**Central**

The sound of the alert siren blared throughout the intertwining streets and boulevards of Central. Everywhere thousands of civilians in panic rushed from their homes to the bomb shelters, as directed by Amestrian soldiers who also tried to maintain a sense of order in the growing chaos. Fear was rampant as the massive force of warplanes closed in on them, darkening the sky like a huge swarm of angry hornets.

"Spread them out! Hurry it up!" Brigadier General Roy Mustang commanded, shuffling the Amestrian tanks in front of Central Headquarters. Grouping them en mass would present too easy a target for the incoming aircraft. "Major, how many anti-aircraft batteries do we have?" Major Riza Hawkeye, standing next to her commanding officer calmly flipped through several pages on her clip board.

"Eight sir; we only managed to move two in from the front." Roy muttered a curse under his breath.

"Arrange them in a circular formation around Headquarters." Riza nodded and relayed the orders. Roy took the time to consider his strategy when Colonel Alex Louis Armstrong walked up beside him.

"We fought them back the first time." The large and tall officer spoke. "And it seems they are back, and better prepared." Armstrong referred to the invaders.

"Do you think those brothers had anything to do with it?" Roy asked him while keeping his one eye on the approaching swarm of planes. Although no one could see it, Armstrong grinned lightly under his moustache.

"If I know them, there's no doubt about it." High in the sky, the first flight of B-17 Flying Fortresses entered Central's airspace; they opened their bomb bays and released their payload. All the Amestrians could do was scatter in terror as hundreds of bombs rained down on their city. Explosions ranged out followed by numerous mushroom clouds marking their locations and the ground shook as buildings began to crumble. The Brigadier General and the Colonel watched in awe at the utter destruction that was being let loose by the heavens.

"Do you think we can win against this Colonel?" The sight before him caused Roy to almost show an uncharacteristic lack of confidence, but he was not alone in that sentiment.

"I certainly hope so sir." Armstrong replied. "For all our sake."

* * *

"That's unbelievable." Gabriel had a hard time grasping what he heard. The four stood on the hill, witnessing the demolition of Central by the combined might of the British and American air force. 

"The results are right before you Colonel." Ed replied.

"Ed." Winry grabbed the older Elric's attention. "Couldn't it be something else?" He shook his head at her.

"I saw it when I went through the Gate of Truth. It's possible, I'm sure of it." He confirmed.

"Then why did the Doctor need the two of you if he could just do it this way?" She asked.

"It would've been easier if we helped him." It was Al who answered. "This is a more difficult, brute-force method but it can be done by someone who doesn't fully understand the workings of the Gate. He has to be using up a lot of the Philosopher's Stone to pull this off."

"Then I have to stop him." Gabriel turned and started walking in the direction of the base.

"Do you think you can do it alone Colonel? You're going to need help." Ed piped up, causing Gabriel to reconsider.

"This isn't your fight." Gabriel seemed determined.

"The hell it is." Ed had to grit his teeth to contain his growing anger. "You brought us into this; you're not leaving us out now."

"And this is our world Colonel." Al added in, he was much calmer then his brother as usual. "So it is very much our fight." Gabriel grinned at the two of them.

"I guess I could use the help." He relented.

"I think we're going to need a lot more of it." It was Winry, and they all turned their heads to her. She was standing a few feet away from the three, staring at the base not too far in the distance. There they could see dozens of armoured vehicles and hundreds of troops gathering.

"Damnit." Gabriel didn't sound happy. "I didn't think they would get here so fast." The others looked at him questioningly. "Those are the ground forces; they'll be involved in the second stage of the invasion." He explained with frustration. "They're setting up a defensive parameter around the base. We're going to need an army to break through them." Everyone stood silent for a few moments.

"Colonel." Ed spoke up, turning to look back at Central which was still under attack. They could see anti-aircraft fire coming from the center of the city. "I think I know someone who can lend us a hand."

* * *

"Get down!" Falman yelled at everyone, as a number of blue-uniformed Amestrian soldiers dove away. A Supermarine Spitfire came in low off a dive, raking the ground with its eight guns before turning to climb away from the anti-aircraft fire. A second plane came in behind the first, this time a P-47 Thunderbolt that blasted the truck carrying the anti-aircraft weaponry, blowing it to pieces. 

"Now!" Falman heard the Brigadier General's familiar voice yelling, he looked up and saw Colonel Armstrong, who is shirtless as usual, striking the ground with his gauntleted fist. A huge rocky spike burst out of the ground towards the Thunderbolt that was trying to pull up, and a snap of Roy's gloved fingers engulfed it in flames and shattered it into a million pieces. The fighter flew through the screen of rocks and debris but suffered enough damage in the process that it sputtered and crashed into the ground.

"Nice shot sir!" Falman congratulated as he got back up on his feet.

"It's not over yet Lieutenant." Roy cut him off, as they saw more planes above breaking out of formation to assaulting the besieged city. He turned to Riza, with rifle in arm, as she ran up beside him. "Casualty report."

"We have one piece of anti-aircraft artillery remaining; the others have been destroyed, along with six tanks. There are over a hundred wounded and at least nearly as many dead. Most of the State Alchemists are either dead or too injured to fight." It was bad news all around, they've only managed to shoot down two planes and the air fleet above them was still busily grinding Central into a mass of rubble. And things only got worst.

"We got more incoming!" It was Lieutenant Kain Fury who shouted, pointing at a second wave of fighters lining up to strafe them. The soldiers around them started firing their rifles and weapons futilely at the incoming planes which closed in on them rapidly. Before the aircrafts could fire their weapons though, the surrounding area was bathed in an eerie blue light. A number of steel poles emerged from the ground high into the air with many wires criss-crossing haphazardly between them to form a series of nets. The first plane flew into the obstacles with disastrous results, the thin but tough wires sliced through the aircraft's wings sending it spinning out of control until it slammed into a building. The rest however, managed to change course in time and steer clear of the hazard but were forced to veer away and abort their attack.

"Who is responsible for that?" Colonel Armstrong asked from behind Roy and Riza as the two breathed a sigh of relieve. Riza's sharp eyes made out the four figures a hundred feet down one of the streets, two of whom where on their knees with their hands to the ground while the others were sitting in an open-roofed car. Roy recognized them immediately.

"Full Metal." He said with a voice that was half surprised and half annoyed and they all ran to join each other.

"Wait! You're…" Riza gasped when she got close enough to make out Gabriel's face, she immediately took a step back and levelled her rifle at him. Winry quickly jumped in between them.

"No don't!" She said. Startling Roy, Riza and Armstrong.

"It's okay. He's here to help." Ed reassured them. Riza glanced at Roy who nodded. She relaxed a bit and lowered her weapon.

"I should've known you had something to do with this." Roy began, much to Ed's chagrin.

"That's all you have to say to me after I just saved your life?" Ed said, annoyed. "I know you don't like to thank people but a 'Nice to see you Ed' would've been good." The older Elric jested.

"Edward, Alphonse, it's good to see you." Riza said instead, smiling lightly at them. "And I'm glad you're safe Winry."

"Thank you Miss Riza." Winry smiled broadly in return. "Oh, how are Lieutenant Havoc and the others?" She referred to her bodyguards from before; Riza was caught off guard by the question and Roy turned to face the young mechanic.

"Lieutenants Havoc and Brosh are in the hospital in critical condition." He said plainly. "Lieutenant Ross didn't survive." Winry was in shock, and tears started welling up in her eyes. Behind her, Gabriel looked down, feeling responsible. Ed and Al took the blow a little better.

"Damn." Ed had nothing else to say. Roy however got right back to business.

"I suppose I should ask you what's going on here." Roy gave Gabriel a quick, suspicious glance. "It seems that the Gate has been opened, but I don't see a portal and the area around Central have changed too much."

"The Gate hasn't been opened." Ed said. "They're merging the two worlds into one." Everyone else expressed disbelief on their faces, save for Ed, Al, Winry and Gabriel who had already heard it.

"How?" Roy's one eye was very wide.

"They're using a giant Philosopher's Stone that was made in the Other World." Al explained. "But the merging process hasn't been completed; we can still stop them before they finish it." Ed then looked very seriously at the Brigadier General.

"The base where the stone is located is just beyond the city. They have a lot of soldiers and tanks guarding it, so we'll need your help to get through them."

"I can't spare any troops; we're stretched too thin as it is." Roy surveyed his battered forces and the ruined city they were trying to defend.

"Sir!" Lieutenant Breda ran up to the group huffing and puffing. "I've got more bad news." Roy's face tensed. "Our scouts are reporting a column of enemy tanks and soldiers moving up Mayflower Street towards here." Some frowned in response; others cursed or just stood silent.

"This is our chance." Gabriel spoke with some excitement, causing everyone to look at him quizzically. "Most of the Allied ground forces are heading here to attack you, which means the defence at the base should be at a minimum. This is our best opportunity to get to Baldwin and the stone."

"We can hold our position here and stall them Brigadier General." Colonel Armstrong supported the plan. "They're slaughtering us, and we won't last much longer. Stopping the merging of the worlds seems to be our only choice."

"How do I know that we can trust you?" Roy finally asked Gabriel. "What if you're actually working for them?"

"We can trust him." Ed spoke for the Colonel, and Al nodded in agreement. Roy eyed them for a few seconds before giving in.

"Alright, let's do it." Roy approved, and then turned to Armstrong. "I'm leaving you in charge Colonel Armstrong. Hold them for as long as you can and then fall back." Armstrong acknowledged his new responsibilities and Roy turned to the car gesturing at Riza. "Come on Major." Ed, Al and Gabriel also joined him.

"Winry, you should stay here." Ed stopped her when she started following them.

"What? No I'm coming with you Ed!" She protested.

"It's too dangerous…" He tried to reason with her, but she would have none of it.

"It's dangerous here too!" She had him stumped. Gabriel watched them argue, and Armstrong stepped up to the couple.

"We can take Lady Winry to a shelter Edward Elric. She will be safe there." Armstrong offered.

"But!" Winry tried one last time.

"Please Winry." Ed was almost begging, and she gave in.

"You're making me wait for you again." She said sadly, causing Ed to feel a pang of guilt. She smiled softly at him. "Please come back to me this time Ed."

"Winry…" He muttered. "I don't know what's going to happen… but everything will be alright. I'll make sure of it." What occurred next was a complete surprise to him. Winry reached out with both arms, and embraced him in a tight, warm hug that made him blush.

"I know." She whispered in his ear. "Be careful Ed." Then she let him go. Ed looked at her, with a tinge of regret, almost not wanting to leave her.

"Time is short Edward." Roy's voice beckoned behind him, snapping him back to reality. His facial expression softened, and he grinned lightly.

"I will." He said, then turned and ran to and boarded the car as Winry watched. Riza, in the driver's seat started the vehicle's engine and it sped away and disappeared into the jungle of the city.

* * *

"This is 'minimum'?" Ed asked sarcastically. Him, Al, Roy, Riza and Gabriel were lying flat on their bellies on top of the hill. To their backs was Central, burning and crumbling. The roar of cannon fire from the tank battle that had already started could easily be heard. Roy felt guilty about leaving his command but they had far more important fish to fry now. 

"You never asked me to define it." Gabriel replied bluntly. In front of them, about half a kilometre away was the base they needed to reach, and around it was dozens of armoured vehicles, tanks and trucks and many more Allied troops.

"What do we do now?" Al asked.

"We can't overpower this many of them." Riza stated. Gabriel shook his head.

"No, but we don't need to." He started explaining. "Look, we've got alchemy on our side, they don't. You see those three machinegun nests?" He pointed. "They're pretty spread out. If we can take them out, we should be able to break through, and once we're inside the base we'll be home-free."

"It's a long shot." Roy commented, and Ed snickered at him.

"You're not scared are you Brigadier General?" Ed taunted, and Roy gave him the classic grin of arrogance.

"Don't mock me, the weather is nice today." He slipped on fresh gloves as they got up on their knees. Suddenly they heard the blast of cannon fire from their right instead of behind them. They turned to the source of the noise to see a whole fleet of tanks appear out of nowhere in the open field, driving hard towards the base.

"What?" Ed and Al both gasped.

"Those aren't ours sir." Riza noted; her sharp eyes could make out the vehicles even at that distance and she couldn't recognize them. A wail from up above caught their attention; and they titled their heads up to see several waves of darkly-painted airplanes screaming towards the base in a deep dive. Below, the Allied troops were scrambling to face the newcomers.

"Ah hell." Gabriel muttered in annoyance. "Panzers and Stukas."

"Do you know who they are?" Roy asked sternly as he turned to the Colonel.

"Yea, it's the Germans." Gabriel scratched his head and sighed. "This party just got a lot more crowded."

_To Be Continued…_


	14. Chapter 13: Unleashing the Monster

**CHAPTER 13: UNLEASHING THE MONSTER

* * *

**

All hell had broken loose. The meagre Allied forces defending the former-Nazi base was under heavy bombardment from the air and ground as they mustered what they could to repel the sudden arrival of the Germany military. High above the skies of Central, the British and American warplanes quickly turned around to assist their compatriots. The Second World War had arrived.

"What's going on?" Roy asked with some confusion.

"It's a bit complicated." Ed answered with a look.

"There isn't enough time for me to explain the geopolitical situation of my world." Gabriel stated. "But to put it simply, they don't like each other. This works for us, they're distracted so there's our opening to get into the base." He stood up and started down the hill. "Let's go!"

"Wait!" Riza startled, but she was too late as Gabriel had already taken off.

"You heard the man!" Ed added, as he and Al sprinted after the Colonel. Roy frowned as he and Riza exchanged glances before they joined them. The five ran as fast as they could, as shells, bombs and bullets rained down around them. In front of the base, the few available Allied tanks had formed a defensive line and were firing at the Panzers rushing towards them. However, the Allied guns lacked the power and range of the German ones and most of their shots either fell short or failed to destroy their targets. In contrast, a few of the Allied armour blew up from the return fire.

In the vast blue canvas of the sky the Luftwaffe was entangled with the Royal and United States air forces in an epic aerial struggle that involved hundreds of spectacular dogfights. The five managed to get up to the base without drawing any unwanted attention.

"Hurry! This way!" Gabriel led them towards an unguarded entrance, kicked it open with his foot and ran inside.

"What the…!" They all stopped. The interior of the facility had changed dramatically. They were now inside a cavernous room, with the Philosopher's Stone at half its original size, glowing brightly in its center. A number of huge tubes and pipes attached to it via metallic clamps fed into a large machine none of them recognized. And from this contraption, more tubes extended into the body of Doctor Arthur Baldwin who was sitting in a large, padded chair next to it.

"Doctor?" Gabriel muttered, and the old man slowly lifted his head up. He grinned weakly when his eyes met them.

"Colonel… welcome back."

* * *

Lieutenant Kain Fuery led Winry into the large room that made up one of the many bomb shelters strewn throughout the capital city of Amestris. They were inside a low-ceiling, hardened building located near the Central Headquarters and military hospital. Even though the structure was built to withstand the most punishing abuse, it was still shaking from the on-going battle outside. 

Winry could see hundreds of people crowded in there, including a number of hospital beds with patients filling an entire side. As a result, the place was unusually warm and the air somewhat stale, so she loosened the army jacket that Ed had given her not long ago.

"Den!" Her expression immediately brightened when she caught sight of a dog with an automail leg running at her. Den jumped into her arms and licked her face as Winry happily embraced her friend.

"Winry?" She perked her eyes up at the familiar voice.

"Scieszka!" The brown-haired girl with big glasses greeted her with a cheerful smile. Then Winry saw the other two people standing beside her old friend and her grin grew even wider. "Mrs. Gracia! Elicia!"

"It's been a while Winry." Gracia Hughes waved at her, also grinning. Elicia, who has grown up considerably ran towards her.

"Big sister!" Elicia and Winry gave each other a warm hug.

"I'm surprised to see you here Winry, I heard you were kidnapped!" Scieszka said with some disbelief.

"It's a bit of a long story." Winry tried to reassure her. "But I'm alright."

"Thank goodness." Gracia spoke, and then her face changed from that of relief to curiosity when she noticed Winry's odd coat.

"Oh… err Ed gave this to me."

"Edward's here?" An astonished Scieszka asked.

"Aha, yea and Al too." Winry was met with some confused looks. "Like I said, it's a bit of a long story."

"Are they alright?" Gracia asked with some concern. "Where are they now?" Winry cast her eyes down sadly.

"They ran off to save the world again." She said, almost with a sigh.

"You're still worried about them." Gracia could relate.

"No, I know they can take care of themselves no matter what happens." Winry paused for a moment. "It's just, I wanted to tell Ed something but I didn't. And now I might never get another chance to."

"Winry." Gracia walked up to her, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "They left you because they wanted to protect you." She smiled at the younger woman again. "But one shouldn't live with regrets."

"Hey Fuery!" They all jumped at Lieutenant Breda's voice and turned to see him walk into the shelter.

"Oh Breda, what's going on?" Fuery answered.

"Colonel Armstrong sent me to get you; the enemy's retreating so we need everyone we can get."

"Did we win?" Fuery's excitement grew.

"Ah not quite." Breda dashed Fuery's hopes. "They're running, but apparently there's another battle outside the city. The Colonel wants to know what's going on, so we're heading out to see what's up. The Colonel's worried that the Brigadier General might be caught up in it. You know how he is." Breda shrugged.

"Alright, let's go." Fuery moaned, and he and Breda turned to leave. Something suddenly popped into Winry's mind after hearing the conversation. _This is my chance._ She turned to glance at Scieszka, Gracia and Elicia standing behind her. They understood and all three gave her supportive nods and smiles.

"Take care big sister!" Elicia waved at her, Winry bid them farewell and ran to catch up to the two departing military soldiers.

"Lieutenant! Wait!" She caught them by the exit, and the two stopped when they heard her voice.

"Huh? Oh is something wrong?" Fuery asked.

"Lieutenant…" Winry started, looking at them with determined eyes. "I need a favour."

* * *

"Doctor… what the hell have you done?" Gabriel wanted to rub his eyes, because he was sure they were deceiving him. Ed, Al, Roy and Riza were equally in shock, and they stood frozen as the British SAS troops that Gabriel had led to capture the building earlier surrounded them. 

"I did not like the atmosphere down there, too dank and depressing, so I moved the vault up here with alchemy where I can get some fresh air." The old professor sounded more energetic then usual. Then he noticed the presence of the Brigadier General and the Major. "Ah, I see you have brought friends."

"What are you doing to yourself?" Al referred to the machine that Baldwin was hooked up too.

"This?" He looked at his arm where a number of intravenous tubes fed into his veins. "I'm injecting the Philosopher's Stone into myself."

"That's crazy!" Ed yelped.

"I may have knowledge of alchemy." Baldwin rose from his seat. "But unlike you alchemists, I do not know how to fully utilize it." He gestured at the machine, then at the pulsating stone. "By becoming one with the Philosopher's Stone, I can harness its power directly to fuse our worlds. Once that is complete, it will be irreversible."

"Doctor, you've bought the war here too." Al interrupted. "It's going to destroy everything!" Baldwin laughed manically in response.

"What's so funny old man?" Ed raised his voice as he anger grew. "There are people dying out there!"

"That is what happens in a war!" The Doctor lifted his arms up in the air, and was basked in a brilliant crimson light forcing everyone to shield their eyes. The walls and roof of the structure slowly morphed and changed. The solid and thick concrete became a webbing of steel beams filled with panels of clear glass. Before they knew it, they were standing inside a giant crystal dome. "Behold! Witness the glory and savagery that humanity can achieve!"

A large explosion above them rocked the entire building and threatened to toss everyone to their feet. The transparent glass allowed them to see the fierce battle that was being waged outside. Planes rumbled dangerously low overhead blasting their guns, as artillery and cannon shells rained down around them. Even worst, were the many corpses littering the ground around the base, along with the smoking hulks of ruined vehicles. The German Panzers were also drawing close.

"The Germans are almost here!" Gabriel yelled. "You have to stop this at once!"

"Why would I do that Colonel?" Baldwin said wirily. "I was the one who called them after all." Gabriel's eye grew wide in surprise, and the British soldiers suddenly became very uncomfortable.

"You would betray your own country?" The Colonel flared.

"I do not care about either side." The old man shook his head. "They will destroy each other, and with no one left to oppose me, I will take the reins of power for myself." Gabriel could barely contain his rage.

"Are you so obsessed with this world that you'll destroy both just to have it?"

"You wanted this as much as I do Colonel, do you not remember?" Baldwin smirked.

"I was wrong to think I could replace Winnie." Gabriel answered softly. "But I don't live in the past anymore, I'm going to move forward and that includes stopping you no matter what." He flinched slightly, as if to attack causing the British soldiers to level their weapons at them.

"Hold your fire." Baldwin calmly raised his palm. "Before you die Colonel, I think you should know that it was I who handed Winnie to the Germans."

"What?" Gabriel gasped; he couldn't hide the shock from his face. "Why would you do that?"

"I could not directly to feed them the information they needed." Baldwin explained casually. "But no one would suspect if an understudy of mine was kidnapped."

"It was you!" The Colonel's anger was seething. "You told them we were coming, so our raid would fail and Winnie would get killed in the process." He gritted his teeth very hard. "That was your way of silencing her. You planned it all along."

"That was the price, the equivalent exchange, of manipulating the Germans into manufacturing the stone for me. And it worked out so perfectly." They could all detect the pride in Baldwin's voice. "And the Elric's arrival was a sheer stroke of luck. Even your blunder of letting Winry Rockbell fall into the hands of the Germans worked out in the end." He was absolutely beaming. "So you see, fate is on my side. Your continued defiance is futile."

"It's not over yet old man." Ed wouldn't give in so easily. "The merging hasn't finished, we can still stop you."

"Stubborn as ever Edward." The professor sighed. "Of course you will try, but I will not give you the opportunity to do so." He gestured at his guards. "Kill them." The British soldiers took aim, and prepared to fire.

Before they could, a load roar came from outside accompanied by the glow of a bright fireball. Everyone turned their heads to see, through the glass dome, a Luftwaffe fighter in flames screaming towards them. The aircraft crashed into the crystal panels violently, shattering them all.

"Al!" Ed yelled at his brother, taking advantage of the distraction. They clapped their hands and transmuted a series of concrete hands that burst from the floor which literally grabbed several of the startled soldiers to restraint them. By then, Riza had already drew the pistol holstered on her belt and had shot down some of the guards with her expert marksmanship. Roy wasn't to be left out either, as he stylishly snapped his fingers rapidly, blasting his opponents with well-placed bursts of fiery explosions that shredded their numbers.

"Baldwin!" Gabriel yelled at the top of his lungs as he dashed towards the professor. The plane wreck had passed overhead, showering them with millions of pieces of broken glass that sparkled beautifully from the glow of the burning aircraft, before going through the other side of the dome and slamming into the ground beyond.

"Must I do everything myself?" Baldwin muttered angrily as he watched his troops being demolished and his former subordinate charging him. Red sparks flickered around Baldwin as Gabriel produced three knives from his sleeve and winded up his arm to throw them. As he did, a couple of the steel beams that had formed the dome came swinging down at him. He jumped over one, then ducked under the second but was struck by the third. As Gabriel was thrown back, he let loose his weapons and all three impaled the professor in the chest.

"Ahhhhh!" Baldwin screamed in pain, as the force of the impacts threw him back but his tether to the machine prevented him from going too far. Gabriel was flung across the building and landed with a large thud near Ed and Al.

"Colonel!" Al ran to help him up.

"I'm alright." Gabriel coughed. The force of the fall had opened his old wound and he was bleeding from it again but he shrugged off the pain. Riza and Roy joined them when they finished disposing the last of the guards.

"Damn you all." They heard Baldwin's voice. The doctor was lying on the ground struggling to get back on his feet, as blood poured from his wounds. The old man turned on his belly and started crawling towards the machine that was feeding the Philosopher's Stone into his battered body.

"That's as far as you go." Roy walked forward, and snapped his fingers. A tornado of fire rose and encircled the wounded man. Baldwin disappeared behind the spinning column of flames for several seconds before the Brigadier General let up. The fire faded quickly, leaving behind a smoking body that was charred in some places but the Doctor, with most of his cloths burnt off, was still clinging to the contraption with both arms. "Give it up, you've lost!" Roy said sternly, offering him one last time to surrender.

"Never." Baldwin wheezed. "It is not over yet!" And with a grunt, he reached out and pulled down a lever that kicked the machine into high-gear. The Philosopher's Stone grew even more brightly, and they all watched in amazement as it quickly shrunk before their eyes.

"No! He's trying to inject the whole thing at once!" Al realized. Baldwin was screaming in agony as he tried to absorb the sudden surge of power.

"Major!" Roy called out to Riza. She ran and jumped up on several of the fallen girders to get a better vantage point, knelt down, aimed and squeezed off a shot. The bullet managed to sever one of the intravenous tubes, a second was cut after she fired another round but it was too late. The last of the stone that remained was sucked into the machine and fed into Baldwin's body; the event triggered a blinding flash and sent forth a shockwave that knocked everyone into the air.

They were all sent crashing into the rubble, and they slowly rose back up in pain. Everyone stared at the giant white cloud of smoke before them, as the silhouette of a huge figure took form inside.

"Baldwin?" Gabriel squinted his eyes.

"No." Ed replied, as the smoke gradually dispersed to reveal a grotesque figure that barely resembled a human. It stood at least fifteen feet tall, its body dotted by red stones that protruded through the pale skin. It had multiple arms sticking out of its torso and back and a hideously twisted and distorted face that was eerily similar to Baldwin's own. "It's a monster."

_To Be Continued…_


	15. Chapter 14: The Gate of Shambala

**CHAPTER 14: THE GATE OF SHAMBALA

* * *

**

"Baldwin!" Gabriel stood with his fists clenched, yelling at the monstrosity standing in front of them all. The Philosopher's Stone had morphed the Doctor into a horrible creature, and the Colonel wasn't even sure if his former-mentor could understand him.

"Colonel…" It responded in a distorted voice that Gabriel could barely recognize. The creature's head shifted down to look at them, and what they thought was its mouth broke into a grin. "Arthur Baldwin no longer exists." It's numerous, and large arms rose upwards to the sky majestically. "I have become the Philosopher's Stone. I am now… a god!"

"So you're the Philosopher's Stone. Big deal, join the club." Al shrugged, almost sounding like his older brother for a moment.

"What now Full Metal?" Roy maintained his calm demeanour despite their situation.

"We still have to stop him from fusing the worlds together." Ed replied.

"But he's the stone now." Riza commented.

"That means we'll have to destroy him." Gabriel answered with some anticipation. Ed clapped his hands to transmute his automail arm into a sharp blade.

"Ever taken down a god before Colonel?" Gabriel smirked as he pulled out several knives from the sleeves of his jacket.

"There's always a first time for everything." Then the Colonel and Ed both charged.

"Damn him, he never thinks ahead!" Roy was a little, though not entirely surprised at their rashness.

"Yea, neither does brother." Al joked while frowning. "Mind giving us some cover-fire Brigadier General?"

"We're on it." Riza replied, as she snapped a fresh cartridge into her pistol. Al then dashed after the two.

"I suppose we should get to it." Roy sighed, and Riza signalled her readiness. The Brigadier General started snapping his fingers, as the Major opened fire. Fireballs burst around the huge monster, knocking him about as bullets penetrated into its flesh.

"Fools!" Baldwin screamed. "Your defiance is futile!" The crimson crystals protruding from his skin started glowing brightly, and they shot a string of red lightning that intercepted one of Roy's fireballs and redirected it towards Ed, Al and Gabriel. The three barely jumped out of the way in time to avoid being roasted.

"He's powerful!" Roy muttered angrily. Riza continued emptying clips into the monster. Baldwin started laughing at the pitiful gestures.

"I will show you how it is done!" He boasted, and the red stones on his body flared again as dozens of large gun barrels emerged from his chest and started spewing out bullets by the hundreds.

"Whoa!" Gabriel yelped, as he, Ed and Al split up and dove behind the wrecked steel beams and girders lying on the ground. Roy and Riza ducked behind the few that were still standing.

"I am invincible!" Baldwin bellowed, but then he was raked by the powerful machineguns of an aircraft. "Ugh!" They all turned and saw an American P-51 Mustang flying in to strafe the beast. Baldwin was thrown back and his body was riddled by huge holes. The fighter rumbled pass and climbed back into the sky to rejoin the air battle that was still waging above them. "Idiots!" Baldwin roared with fury, the bullet holes disappeared as his body regenerated itself.

"I think you're going to need a bigger gun Major." Roy noted with some sarcasm. Riza didn't respond; she just reloaded her weapon. But before they could do anything, Baldwin's chest literally exploded, knocking him to his knees. It was a High-Explosive Anti-Tank shell that left a deep crater in his torso where a flood of red light spilled forth from it.

"Huh? He's leaking energy…" Ed commented as he witnessed the event. They could see that several of the Allied and German tanks had broken off from their engagement to assault the gruesome figure. The explosive shells gave the Colonel an idea, and held his knives in his hands and focused as red sparks flickered around him.

"Meddlesome imbeciles!" Baldwin's rage had reached its maximum. "I am your master! Why are…" But he was cut off when a second shell blew his head off, which unfortunately grew back. "Bah! Enough of this. Feel my true power!" The stones on his body lit up, and he unleashed a wave of red energy that shredded the armoured vehicles like paper. He repeated it a second time to finish off the remaining tanks that had diverted to harass him.

"Brigadier General!" Gabriel yelled, as he dove out from behind the fallen girders that had provided him with refuge, throwing a knife from his left hand. It flew, and stabbed intoone of Baldwin's many shoulders. The monster barely even noticed it and he ignored it. But Roy's observant eye saw that the blade wasn't silver like the ones Gabriel had used before, instead it was black and he understood immediately. Roy snapped his fingers, creating a small blast of flames where the knife stuck out of the monster's flesh. He kept it small and short so that Baldwin would not have a chance to harness it and turn it against him. The fire lit up the darkened blade and it exploded with tremendous force.

"What?" Baldwin gasped in surprise, as the severed arm fell off. The shoulder stump where the arm was once connected to also bled more crimson energy. The force of the explosion sent his lumbering body tipping over. At that moment, both Ed and Al appeared from the wreckage. Ed jumped; running up one of Baldwin's other arms and used his blade to slice the limb off. Al transmuted a long spear and leapt towards the creature. At the apex of his flight, he thrust the tip of the weapon deep into Baldwin's chest, and used the pole to vault himself up the rest of the way towards the head. Al extended his right leg, his momentum carrying him, and he slammed his foot into Baldwin's face to completely topple him. The giant mass of stone and flesh crashed into the ground with a thunderous roar.

"Yea!" Gabriel cheered, as Ed and Al hopped off the fallen monster. But his celebration would be premature. Baldwin's injuries were slower to recover, but he lit up once again and the red sparks converged into a bright orb that hovered above him.

"Look out!" Al yelled, but it was too late. The sphere blew up, unleashing a tidal wave of raw energy sending them all, and much of the debris, flying in every direction. One by one, they smacked into the ground which knocked the wind out of them as they were showered by chunks of steel and concrete.

"This is the end, the grand finale." Baldwin spoke as he got back up on his feet to admire his handiwork. The stones dotting him glowed and the many bits and pieces of metal and rocks around them launched into the air, gradually morphing into small, razor-sharp nails. Suddenly, a cannon round tore into him, interrupting the transmutation and forcing him to stumble back a few steps to maintain his balance.

The sharp hazards rained down on them, and they all acted quickly to protect themselves. Roy created a large blast of flames that cleared everything directly above him and Riza. Ed turned his arm-blade into a large shield that most of the objects just bounced off of. Al transformed a steel beam next to him into a metal umbrella while Gabriel just rolled out of harm's way. Before Baldwin could react or do anything else, he was hit by a second and third shell.

"Ed! Al!" The Elrics could barely hear their names in the midst of all the loud cannon fire. They turned and saw a fleet of Amestrian tanks driving straight towards them from the city, and Winry was waving at them from the top of the lead vehicle next to Colonel Armstrong.

"Winry!" Ed was glad to see her, but also worried for her safety.

"Fire!" Armstrong commanded. And the tanks let loose more shells that sent Baldwin reeling. The monster lifted several of its arms and repeated the same attack he had made on the Allied and German tanks earlier. A massive wave of red energy swept towards the Amestrian attack force, but several State Alchemists jumped out from behind the vehicles and created a series of barriers in front of them that intercepted the deadly crimson light. Baldwin's attack only managed to break and crumple up the obstructions, and once they fell the tanks resumed blasting the beast with their guns. When Baldwin attacked again, they repeated the same strategy.

"Whew." Ed let out a sigh of relief. He was afraid the Amestrians were going to share the same fate as the Germans and Allies. Al, Gabriel, Roy and Riza joined him to watch.

"They can't keep this up forever." The Brigadier General observed, as the Amestrian tanks quickly closed in and Baldwin became preoccupied with them.

"And neither can we, how are we going to beat him if he keeps regenerating like that?" Gabriel noted.

"He's the stone remember." Al explained. "He uses up parts of himself every time he heals. If we keep hurting him, he'll eventually use himself up." But Gabriel shook his head at that idea.

"I don't think anyone of us is going to last that long."

"And we're running out of time." Ed said. "He's almost finished the merging process. I can feel it."

"Maybe we can try what we were going to do with the stone back at the base." Al suggested. "Use him to transmute something until he runs out."

"You want to go ask him to let us do that?" Gabriel turned down that idea too.

"If we can't destroy him, then what?" Riza asked. They all sank into deep thought for several seconds.

"If that's the case…" Gabriel started quietly. "Then the only option left is to destroy the Gate of Truth." Everyone looked at him in bewilderment.

"Are you serious?" Roy asked in disbelief.

"The Doctor explained to me, during my training, that the Gate is the link between our worlds." The Colonel recalled slowly. "It's what ties our worlds together. The Gate makes travel between them, and even their merger possible. It's also why the Philosopher's Stone can be created in my world without the power of alchemy."

"If the Gate was gone…" Al muttered, also thinking hard.

"The link will be severed." Gabriel concluded for him. "And our worlds will be permanently separated."

"We won't be able to perform alchemy anymore." Ed added, and the Colonel nodded at him.

"The Philosopher's Stone can never be created again." They all seemed unsure. "You heard what Baldwin said before." He turned to the Elrics. "Even if we stopped him now and destroyed the stone; others will follow in his footsteps. Someone else, in my world and yours will try to create another one, and people will continue to die and suffer for it. The cycle will keep repeating." They understood. "We have to end it, once and for all."

"But how can we destroy the Gate?" Roy questioned again.

"Father said that the Gate also controlled the flow of energy from the Other World." Ed started. "So in essence, it's also like a kind of regulator."

"And if you overwhelm a regulator with too much energy…" Al caught onto his brother's train of thought.

"It'll fail, and collapse." Ed finished.

"Where are we going to get that kind of power?" Gabriel asked, and they all turned their heads to the besieged monster. Baldwin took yet another shell and red light poured forth from the wound.

"Every time he's injured, he's bleeds the stone's power." Al observed.

"If we can get him inside the Gate, and hit him hard enough…" Ed thought out loud.

"It just might work." Gabriel's hope grew.

"If we're inside when the Gate goes down, it'll take us with it." Roy pointed out.

"There's a good chance we won't be coming back from this." Ed knew the risks. Gabriel stepped forward and volunteered.

"I'll do it then. It's my responsibility." Ed dismissed the thought.

"No you don't. We've gone through this before Colonel, we're in this together."

"I'm in too." Roy stated plainly.

"You don't need to come along Brigadier General. This is our mess." Ed tried to deny him.

"I can't let you have all the glory Full Metal." Roy grinned at him, causing Ed to frown. "How else will I get a promotion?" Then he glanced beside him. "Major?"

"I will follow wherever you go sir." Riza replied without any hesitation.

"Then it's settled." Gabriel nodded. "I can open a portal to the Gate and…" But he was cut off by a loud explosion that caught their attention. Several of the Amestrian tanks had been wrecked. They were too close to the beast now; the barriers the State Alchemists were throwing up provided no protection at that range. He attacked again, targeting the tank that Winry was riding.

"Winry!" Ed yelled. Armstrong grabbed the smaller girl and leapt off before the vehicle was ripped apart and exploded, but they were caught in the shockwave which carried them several dozen feet before they handed hard on the ground. "Damn you Baldwin!" Ed gritted his teeth angrily and rushed him, but when he got close Baldwin simply swung one of his arms sending the short alchemist flying.

"Brother!" Al yelled with concern.

"He'll be fine, come on!" Gabriel gestured at them and charged at Baldwin. Al, Roy and Riza took off after him.

"Are you alright Lady Winry?" Colonel Armstrong asked with worry as he gently helped her up.

"Ah I'm fine." She was a little dazed. Then suddenly, Ed crashed to the ground with a thud a few feet from them. "Ed!" She was startled, and ran to him.

"Winry?" He moaned as she knelt down to help him sit up. "I'm okay." She showed some relief at hearing that.

"Ed…" She said so softly that it was barely audible. "I have to tell you something."

"Huh?"

"All these years that you've been gone, I tried to move on, and I thought I did." She looked sad, but smiled lightly. "I was wrong. I could never really let you go."

"Winry…" Ed's eyes grew wide, and then he shifted his head down. "I'm sorry I left you like that." He apologized. "I didn't want to go, but… as I've said; I'll do anything to protect you." He fell silent for a moment. "That's why I have to do what I'm about to do."

"Ed?" She was confused.

"I'm going to make sure that you and our world will never be threatened again." She realized what he meant.

"You're…" She didn't want to say it, because it would be too painful.

"This is the last chance I will ever get to say it, and I wished it hadn't taken so long for me to realize this…" He swallowed hard and turned to look her directly in the eye. "I love you Winry."

"Ed… I…" She was completely caught off guard. _It's now or never._ She thought, and opened her mouth to speak.

"EDWARD!" They snapped to the source of the voice. It was Gabriel, who along with the others was keeping Baldwin busy. "We could use a hand here!" The Colonel's momentary lapse was enough that the monster struck him with one of its arms.

"Damn!" Ed cursed under his breath. He turned back to Winry and gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry." He said, then stood up and ran towards the battle.

"Ed…" Winry could only look on.

"Colonel!" Ed called as Gabriel managed to land on both feet near him. Gabriel reached into his sleeves, noticed that it was empty and then felt around his cloths.

"I'm out!" He said with annoyance as the two caught up to Al, Roy and Riza. Baldwin grabbed one of the girders with his hands and whipped it towards them, transmuting it into a giant metal spike in mid-flight. Al clapped his hands and hit the ground with both. Half a dozen very thick walls burst up from the ground in a line, and the spike shot through the first four but was stopped by the fifth.

"Colonel!" Ed called out again, as he transmuted three knives, also from the ground and tossed them up. Gabriel grabbed them with one hand as he sprinted past the Elrics and leapt on top of the last barrier. He used it to launch himself even higher into the air where he threw the knives Ed had just provided him with. Roy snapped his fingers, generating a wall of flames in the knives' path so that they lit on fire when they went through it. The fiery darts impaled Baldwin in the face, and then exploded taking his whole head off.

"I'm going to open a portal…" Gabriel informed the others as he landed, but he stopped when he noticed a bright orb growing in front of the monster whose head was gradually reforming. "Look out!" He warned, and the sphere blew up. Ed, Al and Gabriel scattered out of the way, but Roy and Riza were caught by the blast. The force was strong enough to dislodge a chunk of the metal spike from the crushed walls and sent it spinning towards a petrified Winry.

"WINRY!" Ed screamed at the top of his lungs, but she was paralysed by fear and couldn't move. Time slowed to a crawl, as she watched the lethal object close in on her and her life flashed before her eyes.

"Get out of the way Winry!" Al yelled too. Both him and Ed clapped their hands and knelt to touch the ground to transmute something, the blue sparks raced towards her but it would not arrive in time.

"No…" She whispered, and then a figure jumped in front to shield her.

"Ugh!" Gabriel grunted as the spike entered his body, and the force of the impact sent him to the ground.

"Gabriel!" She ran to him. The metal spike was the size of a javelin and it had skewered him through his right lung. But the Colonel wasn't finished. He reached one arm out, and was bathed in crimson light. He focused through the pain, and concentrated as hard as he could to open a large, black portal behind Baldwin.

"Now!" Gabriel ordered. Ed and Al redirected their incomplete transmutations, and two massive rock fists burst forth from the ground in front of Baldwin, and slammed into him, punching the beast so hard that it knocked him into the gapping maw of the portal.

"Gabriel…" Winry knelt down beside the wounded Colonel. He picked himself up, and grabbed one end of the spike with both hands and pulled with all his might. "Wait… stop!" She said. He screamed in agony as he removed it, and his blood poured out. Dropping the spike, he clasped one hand over the hole in his body and he lit up again as he closed the wound with the power of the red stones inside him. It wasn't pretty, he was by no means cured or healed, but the near tidal flow of blood had stopped for the time being.

"Winry…" He said weakly in between grasping for air, trying to ignore the intense pain. "I'm sorry… for everything." It took considerable effort for him to even smile lightly at her. "Take care of yourself." Before she could reply, he took off and ran into the portal.

"Major!" Nearby, Roy knelt down beside Riza who had slammed into one of the few standing steel columns during the last explosion. Her right arm had broken in several places and she sat with her back to the steel beam.

"I'm okay sir." She coughed as she tried to get up, but Roy gently pushed her back down.

"No, you're hurt."

"But sir…" She protested, and he cut her off.

"Don't worry, I'll go and finish this." He said, glancing at the portal that was now slowly closing. She looked disappointed, at herself.

"I'm sorry sir." She apologized but Roy shook his head.

"Riza…" He started; she couldn't remember him ever saying her name like that. "You've always looked out for me." He smiled at her. "Now it's my turn." He leaned down, and their lips met. They kissed for what felt like an eternity, before he finally had to pull back.

"Go." She smiled back. "Go and save the world Roy." He nodded with a grin, then stood up and left. Al met the Brigadier General in front of the portal that was becoming ever smaller.

"You ready Alphonse?" Al nodded firmly, and they turned to Ed who was walking towards them.

"Ed!" Winry cried out from afar, and he turned to her.

"Brother…" Al whispered.

"Edward, we have to go." Roy reminded him as the portal gradually faded. Ed and Winry looked at each other longingly for a few moments. Sadness, and regret were clearly evident on their faces yet no words were exchanged between them.

"Winry…" Ed spoke finally, breaking the silence as a gust of wind blew her blonde hair around her beautiful face. He gave her a remorseful smile, and then did something she would've never expected. "Goodbye." He spoke just loud enough for his farewell to reach her ears, and then turned to join Roy and Al. The three gathered themselves and strolled into the portal side-by-side.

"Ed…" She whispered as the portal closed behind them and winked out of existence. "I love you too."

_To Be Continued…_


	16. Chapter 15: Ultimate Sacrifice

**CHAPTER 15: ULTIMATE SACRIFICE

* * *

**

They were surrounded by nothing but the emptiness of white space. Standing out in the blank canvass like a sore thumb, was the daunting and imposing structure of the Gate of Truth. It stood eerily quiet, silent in its beauty yet able to intimidate even the sturdiest of souls just by its presence alone.

"What do you hope to accomplish by bringing me here?" The grotesque and gruesome Baldwin asked. The mutated combination of flesh and Philosopher's Stone stood with the Gate at its back, and both towered over the four men that showed no fear despite the sights before them.

"This ends here Baldwin." Gabriel, hurt and bloodied said with unwavering determination. "You will pay for what you've done. I'll make sure of it."

"Colonel, if you are so desperate to join your lover in the afterlife…" Baldwin's face formed a menacing grin. "Then I will send you to her!" The beast lifted one of its arms, and the limp stretched and shot out like a cannon. Gabriel grunted in pain as he narrowly managed to jump out of the way of the large fist which slammed hard into the ground next to him. The monster roared with laughter, clearly enjoying this. "You are almost out of time!"

"Then we'll just have to finish this quickly." Ed gritted his teeth, and he leapt up onto the extended arm that Baldwin had used to attack Gabriel. The short alchemist clapped his hands as he dashed up the long limb towards the beast, and turned his automail arm into a blade.

"I will crush you like the pesky ants that you are!" Baldwin bellowed, and he swung a second arm to brush Ed off the first one. But Ed saw it coming, and severed the first arm as he jumped off with both feet. He timed it perfectly, landing on the second limb just as it swept beneath him. Baldwin immediately shot out two more arms towards Ed, but one of them was cut off by the blast of a small fireball.

"Go Full Metal!" Roy yelled, who was rapidly snapping his fingers. Several more quick explosions consumed the other arm that threatened the young alchemist who charged the remaining distance up to the creature's head. Baldwin couldn't react fast enough, and Ed jammed his blade deep into his face. The deep cut caused more red energy to flood out, and Baldwin gurgled in agony. Suddenly, a dozen machinegun barrels emerged from the shoulders of the beast, and they started spewing a hail of bullets at Ed.

"Brother!" Al called out, just as Ed pulled his blade-arm out and jumped off. Al instinctively clapped his hands, and knelt down to the ground so he can do something to help his older brother when the realization dawned on him. _There's nothing here for me to transmute!

* * *

_

The Allied forces were in full retreat, being driven away by the numerically superior German army who now turned their full attention on the handful of Amestrian soldiers and tanks.

"Hurry!" Colonel Armstrong motioned one of his tanks into position, lining it up with the others to form a wall of armour in front of the ruined base. Falman jogged up to Armstrong, and gave him a salute.

"Everyone who is in condition to fight has been called up from the reserves." He reported, behind him about a hundred or so military soldiers were running towards the make-shift line to man the defences. Armstrong nodded in approval, but knew that they were heavily outnumbered and outgunned.

"This is where we make our stand." Armstrong said, looking at the looming German juggernaut lumbering towards them.

"We'll fight to the last man sir." Falman replied, just as the Panzers in the distance started firing their cannons. One of the Amestrian tanks exploded in flames, as more shells started falling around them. Armstrong punched the ground with both fists, causing yellow sparks to jump about. A solid rock wall arose in front of the Amestrian tanks, providing some protection without obstructing their guns. Falman ran to join his compatriots on the front lines.

"Fire!" Armstrong commanded with his thunderous voice. The Amestrian vehicles responded with the roar of their cannons. Not too far behind them, were more military personal scrambling to arm and equip themselves. Major Riza Hawkeye was sitting on the grass, with her back leaning up against some munitions crates, as Winry knelt beside her putting some finishing touches on a cruelly improvised splint.

"Okay, hang on… this is going to hurt." Winry warned the older woman, who nodded her readiness. "One… two… three…" Winry counted down, Riza braced for it but still let out a yelp as Winry used all her strength to set the Major's arm back in place. Riza's face was covered in sweat from the intense pain.

"How is it?" Riza asked a little weakly. Winry double-checked her work, and then wrapped the splint she had made around the Major's arm.

"It's broken in several places, and it's going to hurt a lot if you move it." Winry replied with some concern, and tightened the splint. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Yes." Riza smiled at her. "They're fighting for us, so I have to keep fighting too." She referred to those who had gone through the portal earlier, as a soldier came by and handed the Major a rifle. Riza carefully cradled it in her arms, and Winry helped her back to her feet. The Major took a step forward, before pausing to glance back at Winry to give her another comforting and reassuring smile. "No matter what, you can't give up." Then she turned and headed to join the battle.

* * *

Ed had to strafe hard to avoid another attack from Baldwin who was shooting at him with the machineguns embedded in his body; the bullets only missed Ed by inches. Roy knocked the beast around with a couple more fireballs but they had little effect. 

Gabriel ran up to Baldwin and leapt up to grab one of the barrels hanging out of the monster's torso. Baldwin reached out with one of his arms to grab the Colonel, but a timely fiery explosion from Roy stopped it. Gabriel used the barrel to swing himself up to the shoulders, and pulled out his holstered pistol and started pumping lead into Baldwin's face from point blank range.

Baldwin heaved his body about, turning and twisting this way and that until Gabriel could no longer maintain his balance and was thrown off. The beast quickly turned to where the Colonel had landed hard. Baldwin transmuted a large steel javelin from his body, grabbed it with one arm and whipped it at the fallen Gabriel.

"Damn!" Gabriel cursed, as he struggled to get out of the way but his wounds were slowing him down. But at the last second, Al appeared, flying over the hurled spear. He clapped his hands, and touched the weapon in mid-air, turning it into a huge fluffy pillow that smacked the Colonel in the face.

"I'm going to be sore in the morning." Gabriel muttered as he tossed the pillow aside and slowly got back up on his feet. Ed charged Baldwin yet again, as Al joined in beside him. They skilfully and smoothly dodged the fists, spikes and bullets that Baldwin was throwing at them. Al even managed to get a hold of one of the javelins that he side-stepped and turned it into a shield so him and his brother could get closer.

"Al… now!" Ed called, and they both screeched to a stop about twenty feet from the monster. Al dropped the shield, and cupped his hands, locking his fingers together. Ed hopped onto his brother's hands with one foot, and Al swung his arms up with all his strength launching Ed high into the air. Baldwin adjusted one of the guns on his body and aimed it at the alchemist who was soaring towards him but Roy quickly obliterated it with another fireball.

"Take this!" Ed screamed as he collided with Baldwin, using the force of the impact to sink his arm-blade deep into the creature's flesh. Then Ed dug his arm in, and let gravity pull him downwards, sliding down the front of Baldwin's torso as the blade sliced open a massive gash. Gabriel alternately swung both arms to fling the last of his knives into the wound Ed had just created. Ed landed on the ground and rolled out of the way as Roy snapped his fingers, mustering a wall of fire to ignite the knives which exploded with spectacular fury. The beast fell on it's back, the front portion of it's body in pieces, scattered all over the place.

"We can't keep this up." Gabriel said as he and Roy ran up to Ed and Al. "We've got to get him inside there." He locked his eyes at the Gate that was far away.

"I've got an idea!" Al exclaimed. "Brother, I need your help." Ed saw the look on Al's face and grinned, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking.

"Right." They ran to the pile of objects that Baldwin had used as projectiles against them. The monster was rising back to its feet as it's body regenerated. Ed and Al clapped their hands, knelt down and touched the debris. They were bathed in blue light for several seconds as all the bullets and spikes merged.

"Is that…" Gabriel's face lit up in amazement. The Elrics had transmuted a cannon with a large harpoon sticking out of the barrel. Below the hooks of the harpoon was a thick metal chain that was attached to the second item that they created. A rocket, pointed squarely at the Gate.

"We can't miss this shot!" Roy stated, as he helped the Elrics aim the harpoon cannon. Baldwin rose back on his feet, almost completely healed.

"Fire!" Ed yelled, and the cannon roared. The harpoon burst forth with tremendous speed and force, the monster had no chance and the large metal hook slammed into it, penetrating its flesh through to the other side.

"Now!" Al ordered next, and pulled a switch that brought life to the rocket's engines. It's nozzle spit out intensely hot flames as it launched and took off. It quickly passed the startled Baldwin, and the slack in the chains suddenly tightened, jerking the beast back to the ground and dragging it. As the rocket screamed towards the Gate and neared it, the double-doors swung open to reveal a blackness that was broken by hundreds of pairs of eyes.

"Come on…" Gabriel muttered, as they all watched the rocket pulling the monster towards its oblivion intensely. But the creature wouldn't give up so easily, and the stones dotting its body lit up with a crimson glow.

"No!" Ed yelped angrily. The hook, chain and rocket glowed brightly and exploded, sending thousands of sharp, steel needles flying towards them.

"Damnit!" Gabriel cursed as he jumped out in front of them. Before anyone could react to his actions, the Colonel was showered with red light also, and he extended one of his arms outward unleashing a wave of energy from the red stones within him, deflecting most of the darts away. But a few still made it through, impaling Gabriel repeatedly. One of them sliced a long cut on Ed's face, and he, Al and Roy were also struck by a few of them.

"Impressive." Baldwin spoke loudly as he walked towards them after regaining his balance. "Truly ingenious, I would expect nothing less from the likes of you." He lit up again, and chuckled. "But you will never win." And he hurled a blast of red energy towards them.

Gabriel gritted his teeth and concentrated with all his might, ignoring his broken body and summoned every ounce of power he could from the red stones and let loose. The two blast of crimson energy met with tremendous force, creating a massive shockwave that knocked the four off their feet and sent them sliding back. Baldwin's huge frame absorbed the shock. When it had passed, he looked, and saw his opponents sprawled on the ground, bleeding.

"Yes, yes." Baldwin boasted gleefully. "Now, it is over."

* * *

"We will never yield!" Armstrong blared. "Behold the beauty of alchemy!" He tossed a chunk of rock in the air, and then punched it hard as it came down, turning it into a spike. It struck a German cannon with precision, jamming its nozzle. The crew of the vehicle fired and the barrel exploded. Another tank though fired a round, annihilating the Amestrian tank next to Armstrong, many of which had been reduced to smoking hulks. 

"Colonel!" Breda yelled, and pointed to their flanks where more German tanks were rumbling in from the sides. "They're surrounding us!" Riza was busily sniping at the few exposed German soldiers marching behind the cover of their Panzers.

"Incoming!" Fuery gestured to the sky where several flights of Stuka dive bombers were coming straight at them. Some of the soldiers turned their weapons upwards to shoot at them futilely. Armstrong hit the ground, as more chunks of rock burst up hitting some of the planes. A few crashed, the others rattled their machineguns and dropped their bombs inflicting considerable damage.

"This isn't good." Armstrong noted the grim situation. Their defensive line had been all but smashed, and the survivors were crumbling under the extreme pressure. Behind them, Winry was directing the military mechanics, and assisting them in repairing the few vehicles that hadn't been totalled.

"Sir!" Fuery, covered in dirty ran up to Armstrong. "What are we going to do? They're going to overrun us any minute now!" Before the muscled figure could reply, a shell that landed only yards from them sent them flying.

"Colonel!" Breda called out with concern. A bullet whizzed by his ear, and a second nailed him in the shoulder.

"Medic!" Falman yelled out from beside Breda, who was bleeding but still alive. Winry looked at the scene, at all the people dying, at their impending doom and wished more then ever that Ed was there with her. Another shell landed near the back, showering her with dirt, mud and grass. The Luftwaffe flew overhead and German soldiers swarmed over the Amestrian's improvised fortifications.

"Ed…" She whispered as the remaining Amestrian troops scrambled and retreated towards their rear line. "I know you can do it…"

* * *

Ed's eyes popped wide open, and he snapped awake. _Winry…_ He could have sworn that he heard her voice, calling out, beckoning him back to consciousness. He turned his head to the left, and saw Al lying there, and to his right, Gabriel and Roy. They all seem to be passed out. Then the ground shook, vibrating under the footsteps of a giant creature. 

"Ugh." He grunted painfully as he lifted himself up. He saw the four needles sticking out of his arms and body, and with considerable effort, pulled them out. His clothes were bloodied and torn, his body was battered, but he wasn't dead, and he stood back up on his feet.

"Edward Elric." Baldwin paused in mid-stride, the Gate behind him still open. "You continue to amaze me." He stared at the alchemist who was breathing heavily.

"They don't call me the Fullmetal Alchemist for nothing." Ed jested with a forced smile.

"Indeed." Baldwin chuckled. "But tell me, before I destroy you all. Why do you resist me so?" He mused. "If you had cooperated, I would have granted you more power and riches then you could ever fathom."

"Because what you're doing is wrong." Ed answered immediately. "Science and alchemy exists for the benefit of the people, not at their expense for the individual." He glared at the beast in front of him.

"Is that why you keep fighting?"

"I fight for what is right." Ed's voice grew stronger, and he didn't release his hard stare. "I fight to protect my world, and the ones I love."

"Me too." Ed was startled, and he turned his head to see Al rising up to his feet, pulling the needles out of this wounded body also. "And I fight for my brother." Al smiled meekly at him.

"I fight for those who have given their lives to support me." Roy spoke up, as he too stood up and removed the darts in him. "Those who watched my back and those who I care for."

"And I fight, to right my wrongs, to atone for my sins." Gabriel said as he weakly climbed to his feet, but with a voice that was not lacking strength. "And to ensure that no one else will ever make your mistakes again."

"Mistakes?" Baldwin burst into laughter. "If you insist on continuing your delusions, then go on." The beast grinned widely. "This is the end."

"You're right, it is." Gabriel's determined look did not waver. "But for you." Then he glanced beside him. "Edward! Do it!" Ed nodded. He clapped his hands as he took the few steps towards the Colonel and pressed his palms onto Gabriel's back.

"What?" Baldwin said in surprise. Gabriel and Ed were surrounded by a crimson light, as the alchemist harnessed the power of the red stones in the Colonel's body. A massive storm of red sparks and lightning engulfed the entire void. The sparks gathered, encircling the beast as all the debris and objects made and used during the battle glowed bright white. They transmuted, into black, explosive knives that had iron tips, lining up along the half-sphere around Baldwin. First there were dozens, then hundreds, and then thousands but they kept coming. Ed was utilizing the maximum extend of his alchemy abilities and the red stones.

"Useless! Useless!" Baldwin taunted. "I will demonstrate true alchemy!"

"Not yet!" Baldwin glanced down and saw Al, who had used the distraction to get up close, at his feet with both palms pressed up against his flesh.

"What? No!" The crystals protruding from his body flared as Al used the Philosopher's Stone to transmute a giant magnet inside Baldwin's body.

"Now brother!" Al yelled as he released his hands and dove to the ground. Ed stopped the transmutations, and the red light faded leaving hundreds of thousands of knives in the air surrounding the monster. The powerful magnet attracted the iron tips of the weapons, and pulled them all in, impaling into the creature's flesh until he looked like a gigantic pin-cushion.

"Useless!" Baldwin roared repeatedly, and he prepared to transmute.

"Too slow!" Roy smirked, as he snapped his fingers. He manipulated the oxygen in the air, to create a fierce firestorm around Baldwin so large it covered him completely. The explosive-laden monster blew up with a force that resembled a miniature nuclear device. The four had to fight to stay on their feet. A mushroom cloud puffed over head, and the flames cleared leaving behind only a disgusting pile of flesh and stone that was still pulsating and bleeding energy.

"He's going to grow back." Gabriel saw that the regeneration process had already begun. The open Gate spewed out several dark tentacles that reached out towards what was left of Baldwin.

"The Gate's pulling him in." Al said with some relief.

"You're right." Gabriel nodded. "That means its time for me to go." The Colonel started walking forward.

"Huh… what?" Ed startled, and he jogged to catch up with him. "What are you doing?" He grabbed Gabriel's shoulder, causing him to stop and partly turn.

"Someone has to go in with him to stop him from getting out the other side." Gabriel smiled, and spoke quietly. "That's my job now."

"But…"

"We have to be sure that the Gate is destroyed right?" Gabriel asked.

"Yea." Ed replied slowly. "But you can't do it alone."

"Edward." Gabriel frowned slightly. "You can't always shoulder every burden by yourself. Let someone else do it for a change."

"We're in this together, we agreed on…" Ed protested still, but Gabriel wouldn't let him finish.

"This is my sin." Gabriel reminded. "I could've stopped all this before, but I let it happen." Then he smiled again. "This is the equivalent exchange for my atonement."

"I thought you said you're not living in the past anymore?"

"I'm not." Gabriel assured him. "But I still have to right my wrongs." Then he looked at Ed straight in the eye. "Let me do this, none of you have to sacrifice yourselves. You still have a world to go back to."

"What about yours?" Ed questioned, and Gabriel gave him a remorseful look.

"She died a long time ago." Ed was jolted by his words. "Go back to her Edward, stop making her wait for you."

"Colonel…" Ed sighed, then released his grip on him, and smiled lightly. "Thank you." Gabriel nodded. In front of them, Baldwin had sprouted some new arms as the tentacles pulled him into the gate. He screamed, grabbing the frame of the Gate, unwilling to let go.

"Brigadier General." Gabriel turned to Roy. "I apologize for what happened earlier, thanks for your help." Roy grinned, and nodded. "Al. Look after your brother and Winry, especially your brother."

"I will Colonel." Al smiled and waved. Roy saluted the Colonel in respect, and Ed just stood there with a sad grin. Gabriel gave them a thumbs up, then turned and started jogging. He was once again, surrounded by the crimson light, as he released all the power and energy that was left in the red stones inside of him. A black portal opened up behind Ed, Al and Roy as Gabriel broke out into a full sprint, still glowing red.

"Winnie…" Gabriel said to himself as he was consumed by the bright light and disappeared into it. "I'm coming…" The mass of light and energy crashed into the horrible pile of flesh and crystals that made up Arthur Baldwin, who struggled against being pulled into the Gate. But the force of the impact was enough, and the monstrous hands lost their hold and they both plunged into the darkness.

The Gate swung shut, and within seconds the whole place started vibrating and shaking violently. Cracks broke out along the façade of the Gate, and it begin to crumble and fall apart.

"Full Metal." Roy called to the despondent Ed.

"Brother." Al tried next. Ed turned to face them both and smiled.

"Yea, let's go." The three started towards the portal, just as the Gate collapsed in a heap, sending forth a blinding flash and shockwave that knocked them into their escape route.

* * *

The last of the Amestrian forces had fallen back to their final line of defence, behind some sand bags, some barriers made from alchemy and the ruins of their vehicles. Riza sat on top of one with Fuery, both still firing away. Falman had dragged an injured Breda back who is being tended to by some medics. Winry was also patching up a hurt Armstrong. 

"Lady Winry, this isn't necessary." He said, as she carefully bandaged his bleeding arm. "You should get yourself back to a shelter immediately; I shouldn't have allowed you to come here."

"Don't be silly Colonel." She smiled at him. "Its not your fault, and I have no regrets. I got to see Ed one more time." Suddenly Fuery and Riza landed next to them, still emptying the clips in their rifles.

"Major?" Armstrong didn't expect her. "Report!" Riza didn't turn her attention away from her task.

"We can't hold them back anymore." She muttered.

"Grenade!" Fuery warned, Riza caught sight of the explosive device flying through the air and calmly raised her firearm and shot it causing it to explode. Everyone had to shield their eyes with their arms from the bright fireball. Their lapse was enough as dozens of German soldiers climbed over their fortifications and surrounded them. The soldiers were screaming at them in German, which none of them understood, with their weapons pointed at them. Riza stubbornly refused to lower hers, Fuery was unsure. A couple other Amestrian soldiers kept their rifles trained at the enemy defiantly and others surrendered.

"Ed…" Winry whispered.

"Look!" Someone yelled, and a bright flash caught everyone's eyes. They all turned and saw it emitting from the ruins of the base, culminating until it exploded, unleashing a tidal wave of white light that swept towards them.

"What is that?" Winry asked.

"I don't know, but brace yourselves!" Armstrong yelled, and he grabbed Winry to shield her just as the light washed over them. They were all buffeted by strong winds, blowing their hair and clothes. Anything that wasn't heavy, or was loose was blown away. Winry peeked, and saw that the Germans disappeared as the white light swept over them. It took a few more seconds before the shockwave had passed and the wind had died down. "Are you alright Lady Winry?"

"Yes." Winry nodded, as she got up to look around. She saw all the Amestrians along with their destroyed tanks. But the Germans were gone, vanished into thin air without a trace. Even the dead ones had disappeared, along with their tanks, planes and everything. It was as if they had been fighting an invisible enemy.

"They did it!" Fuery leapt to his feet, and the celebrations started. The survivors cheered, and hugged each other. Armstrong showed off his muscles by flexing them as Winry stood staring into the distance, at the shattered city.

"They destroyed the Gate." Riza spoke, as she walked up to Winry from behind while nursing her splintered arm.

"I know." Winry smiled slightly, it was a bittersweet moment for her. "I knew they would." Then she turned around, the base had vanished also, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"Wait." Riza said, as she narrowed her sharp eyes.

"Huh?" Winry couldn't see anything.

"There!" Riza pointed, and Winry focused. She could barely make out the three faint silhouettes, and her eyes widened as her hope grew. The smoke gradually cleared, and Ed, Al and Roy emerged. Riza gasped, and she sprinted down towards them. Winry couldn't believe it as she watched the three walking towards them side-by-side triumphantly. Al waved his arms wildly at her, they were all beaming.

"Winry!" Al called out as he broke away from the others. Winry followed Riza down towards them, past the surprised and cheering Amestrian soldiers. Al met Winry, and he jumped into her arms, laughing happily.

"Al!" She cried, and then noticed his condition. "You're hurt!"

"Ah it's nothing!" He shrugged off. Beside them, Roy and Riza stood in front of each other, the Major unable to contain her tears of joy.

"Roy…" She said quietly.

"Riza." He grinned at her. "I told you I would finish this." She nodded, and couldn't contain herself any longer. She hugged him, and their lips met as they kissed.

"Winry." Ed started. Winry released Al and turned to the older Elric.

"Ed." She said softly, and then noticed something different. "Your arm!"

"Huh?" He moved his right arm in front of him and looked down, and all their jaws nearly fell off. The automail was gone, replaced by flesh and blood. He moved it, flexing the arm, hand and his fingers. Then he checked his left leg, it too had returned.

"Brother!" Al yelped excitedly. "You got your arm and leg back!"

"It must've happened when the Gate blew up, and we got caught in it." Ed stared at his hand, unable to express his feelings. Winry moved forward, and embraced him tightly.

"Ed." She whispered. "I love you. Please don't leave me again." Tears streamed down her face. He was caught off guard for a beat, but quickly relaxed and wrapped his arms around her too.

"Winry." He whispered back. "I won't, I promise." She pulled her head back and they faced each other. "This is where I belong."


	17. Epilogue

**EPILOGUE

* * *

**

**Central – August, 1927**

The grand capital city of Amestris stood brilliantly under the bright summer sun. Construction cranes and machinery dotted throughout portions of the metropolis, removing the few remaining traces of destruction and rebuilding it anew. It was a glorious sight, and one could hardly tell that a full-scale war had taken place here only months before.

The sun shone unobstructed in the clear blue sky. People and cars bustled about as normalcy returned to the thriving city. Many of them though were gathered in front of the towering Central Cathedral, a structure that had stood both the test of time and conflicts. Droves of people crowded the front of the building, waiting quietly and patiently. But they would not have to wait for long as the heavy wooden doors swung open.

"There they are!" Someone yelled as Riza Hawkeye, dressed in a stunningly beautiful white wedding grown emerged into the sunlight. Roy Mustang, in a sharp, white tuxedo stood next to her, arm-in-arm. The crowd roared, completely shattering the silence that had preceded it. The couple jogged down the red-carpeted steps as they were showered with rice, confetti and streamers.

Behind them, another group of people walked out of the church, including all of Roy's military subordinates, an emotional Armstrong crying his eyes out, as well as the Elrics, Winry, Scieszka, Gracia and Elicia Hughes and a handful of others. They all went down the steps to join the newly weds.

"Well I guess congratulations are in order Mr. and Mrs. Mustang." A fully-recovered Havoc mused when he reached Roy and Riza. "So what should I call you from now on?" Havoc poked Roy playfully. "Retired Brigadier General?"

"Don't get smart on me already Lieutenant Havoc." Roy chuckled. "I may not be in the military anymore, but I can still pull some strings."

"The only one here pulling strings will be me." Riza said calmly next to her husband. Armstrong then approached them, handkerchief in hand and tears streaming down his face.

"That was a beautiful ceremony!" He sobbed. "I will never forget this glorious day!" Both Roy and Riza smiled uneasily at him.

"Thank you Brigadier General." Riza replied.

"I wish to give you both the blessings of the Armstrong family. Please take care of yourselves!" Armstrong then gave Roy a powerful bear hug, the smaller man's face quickly turned blue.

"Brigadier General Armstrong." Riza frowned. "You're crushing my husband." The muscular juggernaut released Roy from his vice-like grip and saluted them both.

"Do not worry! I will take good care of the military in your absence." Then he gestured at his subordinates behind him. "I will also personally see to it that they are well looked after." The statement caused Havoc, Breda, Falman and Fuery to frown uneasily.

"I have no doubts." Roy finally said after catching his breath. "Take good care of yourself Brigadier General." And the two shook hands before Armstrong moved off.

"Well, Full Metal…" Roy spoke as Ed, Al and Winry walked up to them next, but then stopped himself. "I suppose I can't call you that anymore." Then he smirked. "But you still have some growing to do."

"And I guess I can't mock you for being useless in the rain anymore either." Ed shot back with a grin. He and Al were donned in full suits and ties.

"We're both no longer dogs of the military, and there's no more alchemy." Roy reflected. "How things have changed."

"Missing your power trips already?" Ed continued his taunts.

"You know, the best man isn't supposed to aggravate the groom so much." Roy pointed out.

"You know how he is." Al laughed.

"Hey, this is my last chance." Ed shrugged. "Who else am I going to annoy?" Winry and Al both raised their hands behind him, much to his chagrin.

"Thank you again for being a bridesmaid Winry." Riza spoke to her.

"Anytime Mrs Mustang." Winry, in a pretty pink gown, smiled back broadly.

"Please take good care of Edward and Alphonse." Riza requested.

"I always have." Winry replied energetically. "Don't forget to drop by once in a while, you're always welcomed at our home."

"Edward." Roy said, and then offered his hand, causing Ed to grin.

"Yea." Ed grabbed it, and they both shook hands at long last. "See you later Roy."

"Hey!" Scieszka ran up to the group, also dressed in the same outfit as Winry. "When are you going to toss that bouquet?"

"Oh!" Riza snapped her fingers, much like Roy, as she suddenly remembered. She jogged back up the steps a bit to get the high ground as all the men cleared out of the way and the women filled in the gap. "Here goes!" Riza said, then turned her back to them and tossed the bouquet of flowers behind her.

"I got it!" Scieszka screamed as she reached her arms up.

"Oh no you don't!" Winry grunted as she shoved everyone out of her way, albeit roughly, and extended one arm past Scieszka to snatch the flowers from the air. "It's mine it's mine!" Winry cheered and jumped up and down excitedly as Scieszka mourned in defeat.

"Brother, you don't seem too happy." Al observed as Winry ran towards them, and Havoc and Breda rubbed Ed's head teasingly.

"That's going to give her ideas." Ed grinned uncomfortably. "I'm not ready for that kind of thing yet!" Winry didn't hear him, and she gave a rather nervous-looking Ed a big hug as everyone clapped, laughed and watched.

"Hey! Let's get everyone in for a picture before they leave!" Fuery suggested, and everyone gathered, lining up on the steps of the church for one massive group photo before Roy and Riza boarded the waiting car. The two stuck their hands out the open window and waved at the people as the vehicle departed. They turned to watch out the back window at the crowd waving farewell to them before they disappeared into the distance.

"Off to the honeymoon then?" The driver in front asked.

"Not yet." Roy looked at his wife, who nodded. "There's just one more stop we want to make first."

* * *

**Central Military Cemetery, Central – August, 1927**

Roy and Riza stood in front of Maes Hughe's gravestone, none of them said anything as they looked at it quietly. The cemetery was the exact opposite of the party-like atmosphere of the church; it was quiet and tranquil. Not too far from them, were a pair of relatively new tombstones marked Danny Brosh and Maria Ross, the former having succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. On each of them laid a fresh wreath that Winry had placed there the day before, as a token of her thanks and gratitude to them for saving her life.

"Well old friend." Roy finally spoke after several minutes of silence had passed by. "It looks like I finally took your advice." He glanced at Riza next to him. "And married someone who will always support me." Riza smiled and he grinned once more. "You don't need to worry about me anymore, so I hope you can rest easy now." Then he raised his head up towards the sky. "Riza…"

"Hrm…?" She turned slightly towards him. Roy looked relieved, as if a great weight has been lifted from his shoulders.

"The weather is beautiful today."

* * *

**Resembool Cemetery, Resembool – August, 1927**

Al, wearing the trademark red coat, rose up from his knees and inspected his handiwork. The flowers had been carefully placed on the grass, in front of the slab of rock that indicated his mother's final resting place. Then he turned, and checked the other ones. The graves for Winry's parents were also decorated with a similar floral arrangement, and he moved further down where several newer gravestones stood. Al had laid fresh flowers in front of all of them. The first read 'Pinako Rockbell', followed by the second marked 'Hohenheim', and finally a third that said 'Gabriel Mackenzie'. Al backed away until he could see all of them, and bowed politely.

"Thank you… everyone." Then he turned and started down the path towards his home.

"Oh? Hello Al!" He turned to the voice, and recognized the girl immediately.

"Hi Nelly." He greeted her.

"You remember me!" She sounded happy. Al nodded.

"Yep, I've recovered my memory."

"Were you at the cemetery?" She asked, looking past him.

"Yea, just visiting some family, and friends." Then an idea popped into his head. "Have you had lunch yet?" He asked her.

"No." She shook her head.

"Why don't you come over and join us then?"

"Will that be okay?"

"Of course!" Al smiled again. "I'm sure Winry's cooking up a storm as usual."

"Well in that case, who am I to say no?" She replied cheerfully, and the two walked off together.

* * *

**Rockbell Residence, Resembool – August, 1927**

Ed, with a white t-shirt and black slacks, stood on looking at the picturesque grassy field before him. The sun was out, with only a few fluffy white clouds dotting the sky. A gentle breeze rustled the very green grass beneath both his feet, tickling them. His blonde hair waved in front of his eyes as a result of the moving air, but the scene was so delightful that it didn't bother him. There really wasn't much more for him to do but smile.

A noise from the distance snapped him back to attention. A few dozen yards away, he could see Den running full speed at him carrying a small tree branch in his mouth. He grinned some more at the realization that either Den was very fast despite the dog's old age or he couldn't throw things as far without his automail arm.

The hound ran up to the alchemist as he retrieved the stick from Den's mouth. The dog nudged at him playfully while Ed patted him, the mutt was obviously telling him to throw the stick again.

"Easy Den, you're going to wear my arm out if you keep this up." But old Den didn't seem to care. Ed grinned and took a step back to wind up his arm for another toss. Before he could send the wooden stick soaring through the air again he was struck by a sudden sense of déjà vu. He didn't have a chance to think any further, as a familiar voice interrupted him.

"Brother!" Ed could see Al walking on the path in the distance. _He's with a girl? _Ed grinned at the thought, and walked over to meet them with Den.

"Al!" He greeted them.

"Brother, you remember Nelly?" Al gestured at her. "I invited her over for lunch."

"Al, you finally picked up a girl!" Ed said teasingly.

"Brother!" Al was shocked, and embarrassed. Both he and Nelly blushed, as Ed laughed.

"I'm kidding. Winry's probably cooked more then enough for all of us anyway." Then he scratched his head, moaning. "Most likely her patented spaghetti too." As if in a case of perfect timing, Winry, in a yellow summer dress, appeared on the porch of the house and waved at them.

"Ed! Stop fooling around! Lunch is ready… we're having spaghetti!" She shouted, and they all walked towards her. Again, Ed couldn't help but feel as if he's experienced this before. "Nelly!" She greeted her friend when they got close enough.

"Hey Winry!" Nelly answered.

"I asked her over for lunch." Al explained nervously.

"Of course! I'm always prepared for guests." Winry beamed, and herded them inside. Ed walked up to her, looking somewhat spaced out. "Ed?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of it.

"Something wrong?" She asked with concern, and he shook his head and grinned.

"Nothing." But she didn't buy that, and a wrench appeared in her hand.

"Ed." She said with her threatening voice. "Don't lie to me." Ed smiled innocently, looking very frightened.

"Ah…" He caved in. "It's just… I feel like I've gone through this before." He muttered, looking around him. "Everything's so wonderful… it's like a dream." Winry smiled at him, and then leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. She stayed there for a moment, before pulling back.

"Well, what do you think now?" She asked. Ed grinned.

"No, it's real." His smile grew broader. "It's definitely real." She smiled too, and took his hand. He turned, and looked once more at the world in all its grandeur. "I'm home." Then he followed her inside and closed the door behind him.

_**The End**_


End file.
